Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft touched down on the Moon on Sunday. A day later, the lander clicked the first picture of the lunar sunrise.
NASA shared the breathtaking image on X on Monday, showing the moon's uneven surface with deep craters and the Sun's rays beaming brightly in the distance. The note with the picture read, "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and we're feeling good. @Firefly_Space's Blue Ghost lander witnessed lunar sunrise-the start of a new day on the Moon and two weeks of activities, including a lunar eclipse (from the Moon's perspective) and lunar sunset. Let's go!"
On Sunday, the Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed on the Moon, shortly after 3:34 am US Eastern Time (0834 GMT) near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the Moon's northeastern near side. Carrying 10 scientific and technological experiments, the spacecraft captured its first image from the moon shortly after touchdown.
Nicknamed "Ghost Riders in the Sky," the mission is part of a NASA-industry partnership aimed at reducing costs and supporting Artemis, the programme designed to return astronauts to the Moon.
Blue Ghost set off on its journey from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, US on January 15. After separating from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, it established communications with the company's Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.
The spacecraft carries 10 instruments, including a lunar soil analyser, a radiation-tolerant computer and an experiment testing the feasibility of using the existing global satellite navigation system to navigate the Moon.
Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon's horizon.
On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence -- creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
Blue moon findings are expected to support several science and technology demonstrations such as sample collection, X-ray imaging, lunar subsurface drilling and dust mitigation.
