Texas firm is first to land private craft on moon

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander on Sunday became the first private spacecraft to land on the moon without crashing or falling over. Blue Ghost touched down on the moon’s near side, next to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille. Firefly Aerospace was formed in 2017 and is headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas, according to the company website.

Several moon lander projects have failed in recent years. Only five countries have claimed success in the past—Russia, the United States, China, India, and Japan, according to the Associated Press.

The spaceship carried 10 NASA instruments and will conduct several experiments over the next 14 days, equivalent to one lunar day. Its operations will include subsurface drilling, radiation tolerant computing, sample collection, and dust mitigation experiments, according to Firefly.

Blue Ghost will also photograph a total eclipse on March 14 when Earth blocks the view of the sun from the moon’s surface. On March 16, the craft is scheduled to photograph the lunar sunset and collect data on levitating lunar dust.

How many private companies has the United States hired for moon missions? NASA has awarded 14 American companies contracts through its $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Vendors include Astrobotic, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, and Lockheed Martin Space.