A Lunar Lander’s Busy Day: Eclipse Photos and Rock Collecting

The sun has set on the Blue Ghost spacecraft, concluding a successful NASA-sponsored commercial mission.

By Kenneth Chang and Jonathan Corum

March 21, 2025

The shadow of the Blue Ghost spacecraft after it landed on the moon, with Earth in the distance.

Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost just completed its mission, which lasted a full lunar day — two Earth weeks — on the near side of the moon.

The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, conducted a series of experiments. It drilled three feet into the lunar soil, took X-ray images of the magnetic bubble that surrounds and protects Earth and sought a mysterious yellow glow at sunset.

Built by Firefly Aerospace, a startup in Texas, Blue Ghost was launched from Earth in January and pulled into orbit around the moon in mid-February. A couple of weeks later, it took this video, sped up by a factor of 10, as it circled 62 miles above the surface. The shiny sheets are radiator panels that protected the spacecraft from the extreme heat while in sunshine.

A timelapse video of Blue Ghost orbiting the moon on Feb. 26.