Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost touched down upright after it performed two nerve-wracking avoidance manoeuvres to dodge boulders on its autonomous descent.
The lander contains ten instruments that will carry out tasks on behalf of NASA’s wider Artemis mission, including tech to analyse lunar soil, much like Australia’s upcoming rover.
“You all stuck the landing. We’re on the moon,” announced Will Coogan, the mission’s chief engineer, after the lander set itself down.
The news means Firefly become only the second private company to ever land on the moon, but the first to do so upright after Intuitive Machines’ effort last year toppled over on its side.
Blue Ghost blasted off in January onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, and its mission will last for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days.
It will deliver 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface, including technology that hopes to capture high-definition imagery of both a total eclipse of the Earth and a lunar sunset.
“The science and technology we send to the Moon now helps prepare the way for future NASA exploration and long-term human presence to inspire the world for generations to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
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“We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies – which supports a growing lunar economy.”
Firefly’s 750 workers, meanwhile, were reported to have gasped and cheered in celebration when Blue Ghost snapped a selfie of its shadow against the blue marble of Earth.
“We got some moon dust on our boots,” said the company’s chief executive, Jason Kim.
“This bold, unstoppable team has proven we’re well equipped to deliver reliable, affordable access to the moon, and we won’t stop there.”
Blue Ghost’s faultless landing was near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a large basin located in the northeast quadrant of the moon’s near side.
“Formerly an ancient asteroid impact site, Mare Crisium was created by volcanic eruptions that flooded the basin with basaltic lava about 3 billion years ago,” said Firefly.
“This unique landing site will allow Firefly’s payload partners to gather critical data about the Moon’s regolith, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field.”
Blue Ghost's progress will likely be watched closely by Australia’s ELO2, which is also being tasked by NASA with creating a lunar rover that will similarly analyse regolith or Moon soil.
ELO2 beat AROSE in December to be tasked with creating the device and said work on the final design would begin immediately.
Regolith can both become oxygen that humans can breathe or aid the production of rocket fuel necessary to support the launch of a rocket from the Moon to Mars and beyond.
The ELO2 consortium consists of organisations, including universities, SMEs, and those in the mining sector. In particular, the University of Adelaide is responsible for the rover’s ongoing testing, Inovor provided the electrical power system, and BHP provided expertise in excavation.
Finally, Firefly’s mission comes just days before Intuitive Machines will remarkably make a second attempt to land on the moon with its new lander, Athena. Despite its first device landing on its side, the mission was still branded an “unqualified success”.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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