Blurry images of distant planets are a thing of the past. The Blue Ghost lunar lander from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has not only demonstrated its ability to gently descend to the surface of another celestial body, but has also sent back high-quality, even artistic, images from the scene for the first time. What’s more, Blue Ghost has shot a surprisingly cinematic video of its own descent to the Moon, worthy of its own Oscar.
Image source: Firefly Aerospace
The landing took place on March 2, 2025. The module’s camera captured the horizons of the Moon and the distant Earth, which was captured in the frame. It seems that the filming was done according to a script with a camera in the hands of an experienced Hollywood cameraman. We all understand that without the miracle of editing this would have been impossible. However, the landing footage is real and was taken from good angles.
The video shows the approaching surface of the Moon. It is pockmarked with craters, into one of which the module will descend. The engines slowly work in braking mode until they fire up at maximum speed before touchdown, raising clouds of lunar dust. The sun shines on the back of the cameraman, causing the module to cast a long shadow, which becomes the center of the frame.
«Watch Firefly land on the Moon! After identifying hazards on the surface and selecting a safe landing site, Blue Ghost landed directly above its target in the Mare Crisium. A historic moment we will never forget happened on March 2. We have moon dust on our boots!” the company wrote on the X network, sharing a nearly three-minute video of the descent and landing.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost was launched into space on January 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It landed 46 days after launch. The craft was built as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and became the second private lunar landing module. Tomorrow (March 6), another private lunar landing module, Athena by Intuitive Machines, will attempt to land on the Moon.
Blue Ghost Landing Site
At the same time as Blue Ghost, the Japanese descent module Resilience of the Tokyo company ispace was sent to the Moon on a long trajectory. The other day, ispace announced that it plans to land on the Moon on June 5.