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The Moon just got its first commercial success story — Blue Ghost nailed it
Orig: Firefly Aerospace Successfully Completes 14 Days of Surface Operations on the Moon
Firefly Aerospace announced 100% mission success for Blue Ghost Mission 1 — all 10 NASA CLPS payloads operated on the lunar surface and collected science data during 346 hours of daylight operations. The mission ended March 16 as batteries depleted at lunar sunset, marking the longest commercial surface operation on the Moon.
346 hours on the Moon. First try. Firefly just changed the game.
Orig: Firefly's Blue Ghost lander nails lunar mission
Analysis of Blue Ghost Mission 1 success: Firefly's first-ever lunar landing attempt was flawless, contrasting sharply with the industry's prior commercial failure rate. The mission's 346-hour surface operation delivered GPS firsts, deepest-ever robotic thermal probe, and stunning eclipse imagery — while Intuitive Machines' IM-2 failed the same week.
Blue Ghost watched Earth eclipse the Sun from the Moon — and photographed it
Orig: NASA Science Data Received, Blue Ghost Captures Eclipse From Moon
All 10 NASA CLPS payloads on Blue Ghost powered on and collected data. On March 14, the lander captured historic imagery of a total solar eclipse from the lunar surface — the first time a commercial company observed this phenomenon while actively operating on the Moon. The LuGRE instrument received GPS signals from 362,000 km, setting a new record.