Blue Ghost: The Silent Moon Mission That Ended After Two Weeks

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It’s lights out for the initial privately funded lunar lander to successfully achieve this fully successful moon mission .

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander went quiet over the weekend after completing two weeks of scientific experiments for NASA. The conclusion occurred as the sun set on the moon, no longer supplying power for the lander’s solar panels .

“Mission accomplished,” declared Firefly CEO Jason Kim through X early Monday morning. "However, the Ghost continues to thrive within our hearts and minds as we reflect upon the incredible journey it has brought us!”

The lander functioned for five hours during the lunar night as intended before shutting down on Sunday evening. Images of the lunar sunset and its luminescence will be published on Tuesday, according to Kim.

In January, Blue Ghost was dispatched from Cape Canaveral as part of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery initiative. The craft touched down near the moon's distant northern fringe on March 2nd, equipped with a drill, vacuum system, and various scientific apparatus intended for use by NASA. On Monday, Firefly verified that all ten experimental payloads had functioned successfully.

Last week, Blue Ghost witnessed a total solar eclipse from the moon — which appeared as a total lunar eclipse when viewed from Earth.

The Texas-based Firefly became the first private company to land on the moon without falling or crashing after a string of failed missions by other companies over the past few years. Only five countries — the United States, Russia, China, India and Japan — have achieved a successful landing.

A Japanese firm’s lunar lander hitched a trip aboard a SpaceX rocket but opted for a more extended journey to reach the moon. The ispace craft is aiming for an early June landing.

A different Texan firm, Intuitive Machines, recently found itself stranded inside a crater close to the lunar south pole, which ultimately led to the failure of their mission. This marked the second unsuccessful venture for Intuitive Machines. Their initial spacecraft had previously returned the U.S. to the moon last year—the nation’s return trip following the Apollo missions—despite an imperfect touchdown that impaired communication capabilities.

Firefly is currently developing its next lunar lander with the aim of achieving at least one moon landing per year.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. However, the AP maintains full responsibility for the entirety of the content produced.

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