Hello Moon: Blue Ghost Enters Lunar Orbit in Stunning Footage

Excitement continues to build around Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar mission, as the spacecraft recently shared stunning imagery of the Earth from space. Now, it has also provided remarkable footage of the moon from its orbit.

Launched last month, the Blue Ghost mission aims to achieve the second-ever soft landing on the moon by a commercial company. After spending several weeks orbiting Earth, it officially entered lunar orbit yesterday, February 13.

“The Firefly team nailed our most challenging burn to date!” the company announced in an update. “Starting at 7:51 p.m. CST on February 13, the team completed a 4 minute, 15 second Lunar Orbit Insertion burn using Blue Ghost’s RCS thrusters and main engine to achieve an elliptical orbit around the moon. Over the next 16 days, we will perform additional maneuvers to circularize our orbit and move closer to the lunar surface.”

As the spacecraft neared the moon, it captured a breathtaking image that showcases the sun, the moon, and its solar panels in the foreground. This image also features some of the scientific instruments carried by the spacecraft, including the LEXI payload (the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager, a tool for studying space weather) and a communications antenna.

Firefly's Blue Ghost lander captured an image of the Moon from its top deck camera. The image also shows Blue Ghost's solar panel, X-band antenna on the left, and NASA's LEXI payload on the right. — Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander captured an image of the Moon from its top deck camera, showing the spacecraft’s solar panel, X-band antenna (left), and NASA’s LEXI payload (right).
Firefly Aerospace

Additionally, a series of photos taken during the lunar orbit insertion burn have been combined to create an impressive timelapse showcasing the view of the moon as the spacecraft maneuvers around it.

Hello Moon

The spacecraft is currently in a wide elliptical orbit around the moon, navigating in an oval pattern. Over the next two weeks, it will make engine adjustments to transition to a more circular orbit, gradually getting closer to the moon as it prepares for its landing attempt on March 2.

Landing on the moon presents its own set of challenges due to the uneven terrain, populated with boulders and craters. A previous private company, Intuitive Machines, faced difficulties when its lander came down at an angle, hindering its ability to effectively gather power from its solar panels.

To overcome these challenges, Firefly intends to implement terrain-relative navigation, which utilizes images of the lunar surface processed by an onboard computer to determine a safe landing zone. We will have to wait until next month to find out if they succeed in this ambitious endeavor.