Blue Ghost spacecraft’s viral footage shows Earth in ‘rearview mirror’

A private US spacecraft bound for the moon has captured breathtaking footage of Earth from space. The images were taken by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, which launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center on January 15.

The Texas-based company shared the visuals on X (formerly Twitter), showing the Blue Marble from deep space as the lander continues its journey toward the moon.

‘Blue Ghost says goodbye to Earth’

The post read: "T-5 days until Blue Ghost says goodbye to Earth! With the accuracy we achieved on our first two burns, we were able to skip the third Earth orbit maneuver."

Firefly Aerospace confirmed that Blue Ghost is on track for a March 2 moon landing, with its trajectory so precise that the mission team skipped a planned flight adjustment.

“With Earth in the rearview mirror, we’re on cruise control until we reach the moon’s orbit and perform a Lunar Orbit Insertion in just a couple days,” Firefly posted on X.

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NASA experiments and lunar goals

The lunar lander carries experiments for NASA as part of the agency’s initiative to return astronauts to the moon this decade. It is one of two lunar landers launched on January 15. The other, Resilience, is a lander from Japanese company ispace, which is taking a longer trajectory and is expected to land in May or June.

This marks Firefly Aerospace’s first lunar mission and ispace’s second attempt after its first lander crashed into the moon in 2023.

Part of NASA’s lunar science programme

The Blue Ghost mission plays a key role in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, aimed at delivering ten research payloads to Mare Crisium, a vast lunar basin. In just two weeks, the mission has successfully downlinked over 7 GB of data.

Once it successfully lands, Blue Ghost will operate NASA’s payloads for a full lunar day, which equates to 14 Earth days. Over its 60-day mission, the lander will support scientific and technological demonstrations, including sample collection, X-ray imaging, lunar subsurface drilling and dust mitigation.

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FAQs

1. When will Blue Ghost land on the moon, and how long will it operate?
Blue Ghost is scheduled to land on the moon on March 2, 2025, after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, 2025. The lander will operate for about 60 days, with the first 14 Earth days dedicated to running NASA’s payloads during a complete lunar day.

2. What is the goal of the Blue Ghost mission?
Blue Ghost is a lunar lander carrying NASA experiments to the moon’s Mare Crisium for research and testing