<
https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-becomes-first-commercial-company-to-successfully-land-on-the-moon/>
"Cedar Park, Texas, March 2, 2025 – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end
responsive space services, today announced its Blue Ghost lunar lander softly
touched down on the Moon’s surface in an upright, stable configuration on the
company’s first attempt. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services
(CLPS) initiative, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the
Sky, sets the tone for the future of exploration across cislunar space as the
first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful soft-landing
on the Moon.
“Firefly is literally and figuratively over the Moon,” said Jason Kim, CEO of
Firefly Aerospace. “Our Blue Ghost lunar lander now has a permanent home on the
lunar surface with 10 NASA payloads and a plaque with every Firefly employee’s
name. This bold, unstoppable team has proven we’re well equipped to deliver
reliable, affordable access to the Moon, and we won’t stop there. With annual
lunar missions, Firefly is paving the way for a lasting lunar presence that
will help unlock access to the rest of the solar system for our nation, our
partners, and the world.”
Carrying 10 NASA instruments, Blue Ghost completed a precision landing in Mare
Crisium at 2:34 a.m. CST on March 2 and touched down within its 100-meter
landing target next to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille. Blue Ghost’s
shock absorbing legs stabilized the lander as it touched down and inertial
readings confirmed the lander is upright in a stable configuration. Following
touchdown, Firefly is successfully commanding and communicating with the lander
from its Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.
Blue Ghost will now begin its surface operations and support several NASA
science and technology demonstrations over the next 14 days – equivalent to a
full lunar day. The surface operations include lunar subsurface drilling,
sample collection, X-ray imaging, and dust mitigation experiments. On March 14,
Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the
Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon. On March 16, Blue Ghost will
then capture the lunar sunset, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due
to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene
Cernan on Apollo 17. Following the sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several
hours into the lunar night and continue to capture imagery that observes how
levitating dust behavior changes after the sunset.
“With the hardest part behind us, Firefly looks forward to completing more than
14 days of surface operations, again raising the bar for commercial cislunar
capabilities,” said Shea Ferring, Chief Technology Officer at Firefly
Aerospace. “Just through transit to the Moon, Firefly’s mission has already
delivered the most science data to date for the NASA CLPS initiative. CLPS has
played a key role in Firefly’s evolution from a rocket company to a provider of
launch, lunar, and on-orbit services from LEO to cislunar and beyond. We want
to thank NASA for entrusting in the Firefly team, and we look forward to
delivering even more science data that supports future human missions to the
Moon and Mars.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
