Abdelrahman
For Firefly Aerospace’s “Ghost Riders in the Sky” mission, the focus has shifted from the vastness of space to the captivating sight of the moon.
The company’s lunar lander, Blue Ghost, successfully entered lunar orbit last week, completing a four-day journey from Earth and initiating preparations for its upcoming landing. Ahead of this crucial descent, scheduled to occur in less than two weeks, Blue Ghost executed a three-minute and 18-second engine burn that adjusted its orbit around the moon. This maneuver lowered the lander’s altitude to 75 miles (120 kilometers) above the lunar surface, where it will remain until it begins its descent.
In a recent update on X, which showcased a video of the spacecraft’s new perspective of the moon, Firefly warned that temporary communication interruptions with Blue Ghost may occur as it passes over the far side of the moon. While still positioned on the near side, the Firefly team is actively retrieving data and planning the next burns and landing patterns for the lander. According to their post, “This will position Blue Ghost even closer to the lunar surface, keeping us right on track for our landing on March 2.”
Blue Ghost was launched last month aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The “Ghost Riders in the Sky” mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), which partners with private companies to transport NASA’s scientific instruments and experiments to the moon. Blue Ghost is outfitted with 10 payloads focused on research and technology demonstrations intended to analyze the lunar environment as NASA advances its endeavors to return astronauts to the moon through the Artemis program.
This mission marked Blue Ghost’s launch alongside another lunar lander, Japanese company ispace’s “Resilience.” This represents ispace’s second attempt to land on the moon, following the unsuccessful first attempt. Resilience carries a micro-rover named Tenacious and aims for a soft landing, although its route differs significantly from that of Blue Ghost.
Our #GhostRiders successfully executed another lunar orbit adjustment with a burn lasting 3 minutes and 18 seconds earlier today. This adjustment transitioned the lander from a high elliptical orbit to a lower elliptical one around the Moon. Shortly after the burn, Blue Ghost captured stunning images… pic.twitter.com/ygyMVpaBW4February 18, 2025
While Resilience’s trajectory toward the moon consumes less energy than Blue Ghost’s path, it involves a longer timeline. Resilience is expected to embark on its landing attempt in approximately 3.5 months, whereas Blue Ghost aims to complete its mission much sooner.
If all goes as planned, Blue Ghost will achieve the distinction of being the second private mission to successfully land on the lunar surface. After touchdown, the lander will have a full lunar day (approximately two weeks) to operate before the sun sets and it potentially loses power. During this time, the 10 NASA experiments will be actively collecting data, testing components, and making discoveries that will inform future lunar missions and beyond.
