Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon, establishing a significant milestone as the first private spacecraft to achieve a stable lunar landing. This mission, backed by NASA through a substantial investment, aims to create a sustainable lunar economy by fostering competition among private enterprises. The Blue Ghost, which carries multiple experiments for NASA, has begun sending back images from the lunar surface. With more landers scheduled to follow, this marks an ongoing era of commercial exploration in space, laying groundwork for future manned missions.
"You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon," Firefly's Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported, highlighting the company's achievement in Lunar exploration.
Confirmation of successful touchdown came from the company's Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 225,000 miles away.
The Blue Ghost lander is the first private spacecraft to successfully reach the moon without crashing, joining the ranks of five successful national space programs.
NASA's investment of $101 million for the delivery underlines its commitment to commercial lunar development in anticipation of manned missions later this decade.
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