A Private Space Mission Just Successfully Landed on the Moon for the First Time

With its Blue Ghost lunar module, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has just achieved what no other private company, anywhere in the world, has ever accomplished: successfully landing on the surface of the moon. Having launched in January, the Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down at Mare Crisium, in the vicinity of a mountain called Mons Latreille, at 3:34 am Eastern Time on Sunday March 2. NASA reports that the Blue Ghost lander is in a stable, vertical position. “This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and US companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” Janet Petro, NASA’s acting administrator, said in a statement on March 2. “We have already learned many lessons, and the technology and science demonstrations aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 Mission will enhance our ability to not only discover more science but also to ensure the safety of the instruments on our spacecraft for future human exploration, both near and long term.” Blue Ghost is not the ... Read full article.