Achieving a successful lunar landing is a formidable task, as numerous missions have met their demise on the Moon’s surface. However, Firefly’s Blue Ghost has triumphantly conquered this challenge, standing tall on the Moon’s surface after a recent landing. The historic touchdown was captured in stunning footage, showcasing a cinematic finale that lives up to the mission’s namesake.

Firefly’s inaugural mission to the Moon, Blue Ghost, touched down on the lunar surface at 3:34 a.m. ET on Sunday. The Texas-based company released a breathtaking clip of the lander’s descent, followed by a smooth and precise landing. The footage is a masterclass in lunar landings, featuring striking views of the lander emerging from a cloud of dust, with its shadow stretching across the Moon’s surface in a heroic pose.

The nearly 3-minute video showcases Blue Ghost’s gentle descent onto the Moon, gliding across the cratered, dark grey surface with its shiny, metallic wings. The video also features hauntingly beautiful views of the Moon, with the Sun casting its light across the horizon, creating an otherworldly atmosphere.

As Blue Ghost finally settles into its designated landing spot, it kicks up a cloud of dust before coming to rest on the regolith. The lander casts its shadow across the lunar surface, appearing as a well-defined silhouette once the dust settles. This image of Blue Ghost’s shadow serves as a reflection of the mission’s purpose, which aims to pave the way for more commercial landers to secure their own spot on the Moon.

The mission, aptly named “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” touched down in Mare Crisium, a large impact site filled with basaltic lava on the Moon. Blue Ghost accomplished a precision landing, touching down within a 328-foot (100-meter) target next to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille, demonstrating its exceptional navigation capabilities.

Since landing on the Moon, Blue Ghost has initiated its surface operations, deploying its payloads, sampling lunar regolith, and capturing images. The stationary lander will spend a full lunar day (equivalent to 14 days on Earth) analyzing the Moon’s dusty surface. Blue Ghost is also equipped with 10 NASA instruments designed to probe the lunar surface and gather data to support future human missions to the Moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These NASA instruments are designed to test subsurface drilling on the Moon, regolith sample collection, satellite navigation technology, and lunar dust mitigation methods, according to NASA.

Blue Ghost launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, January 15, on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. With its impressive landing, Firefly Aerospace became the second private company to land on the Moon, and the first to land with its spacecraft remaining upright (Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tipped over on its side after landing on the Moon in February 2024).

We eagerly await the continuation of Blue Ghost’s journey on the lunar surface, anticipating the discoveries and advancements that will unfold.