Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunary lander carrying a vacuum, drill, and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon on March 2.
The lander’s mission is the latest among a group of companies looking to establish business on the moon before NASA sends human missions with its Artemis program. While on autopilot, Blue Ghost descended from lunar orbit and aimed for slopes on an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin. The area is located on the moon’s northeastern edge of its nearest side.
Firefly Aerospace, a startup founded a decade ago, confirmed the successful touchdown from its Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, after following the exploration roughly 225,000 miles away….