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HOUSTON – As the sun set on the Blue Ghost Moon lander, bringing a successful 14-day mission to a close, the robot captured a view only seen by a handful of people as particles on the surface of the Moon danced in the lingering sunlight.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander captured high-definition images of the lunar sunset March 16, as lunar night would bring the robotic mission to an end.
However, the lander continued to operate for more than five hours in darkness, marking the longest lunar commercial mission yet.
With a successful landing, Blue Ghost delivered 10 NASA science instruments to the lunar surface March 2 in an area known as Mare Crisium.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Firefly Aerospace is the first commercial company to achieve all of its milestones for a CLPS mission, including an upright landing.
Two CLPS missions from another Texas company, Intuitive Machines, landed on the Moon but did not remain upright for science operations.
“There was nothing easy about this mission,” Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim said. “I think that you heard our chief engineer come up and say, ‘Y’all stuck the landing, and we’re on the Moon.’ And shortly after that, the team finally got to celebrate, but instantly they went back to operating the payloads and collecting all the science data and beaming it down to the Earth.”
In addition to the NASA science data collected, Blue Ghost shared detailed images from the lunar surface, including a solar eclipse and a lunar sunset.
NASA and Firefly Aerospace shared images of the glowing sunset Tuesday, two days after the mission officially ended on the lunar surface.
Scientists will analyze these photos and video for a phenomenon known as lunar horizon glow, first described by Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan.
“Lunar dust particles can become charged due to exposure to the solar ultraviolet radiation. And these particles can experience what we think is electrostatic repulsion, causing them to lift off of the lunar surface,” NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Joel Kearns said.
Scientists theorize this process causes the lunar dirt, or regolith, to dance in the sunlight.
Firefly spacecraft program director Ray Allensworth said Blue Ghost is not expected to survive the lunar night, but they will check on the lander in early April to see if it will turn back on.
