We already knew that the aerospace company Firefly successfully maneuvered its Blue Ghost lander onto the surface of the Moon, but now we have some gorgeous video proof. The lander captured footage throughout the touchdown, complete with a cinematic finale. Check it out below.
The POV footage shows the lander descending toward the Moon and the subsequent landing. It ends with a striking view of Blue Ghost emerging from a cloud of dust as its shadow stretches across the lunar surface. It’s pretty darn cool, with surprisingly-crisp HD visuals.
The touchdown happened Sunday at 3:30 AM ET and Blue Ghost made its home in a region known as Mare Crisium. This isn’t the first commercial lander to make its way to the Moon, but was the first one to land properly. The mission was a joint effort between Firefly and NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, an organization that hopes to pave the way for an increased commercial presence on good ‘ole Luna.
Since landing, Blue Ghost has begun its surface operations. These include deploying payloads, sampling local regolith and capturing a bevy of images. The stationary lander will spend around two weeks on the lunar surface as it conducts various tests. It’s packed with ten NASA instruments designed to probe the ground and to test subsurface drilling methods.
