Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft has captured a fabulous image of Earth as it makes its way toward the moon.
Firefly shared the image on X, noting that it shows Australia and the surrounding region.
G'day to our friends down under! To the delight of two Aussie Fireflies working in mission control, our Blue Ghost lunar lander snagged another postcard-worthy shot, this time of Australia! #BGM1 pic.twitter.com/mmUDZjMbdH
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) February 7, 2025
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The image was taken by an onboard camera soon after Blue Ghost left Earth orbit en route to our nearest neighbor.
“Blue Ghost has merged onto the highway to the moon!” the Texas-based team said in another post shared on Sunday. “After a successful Trans Lunar Injection burn, our lander has left Earth’s orbit and begun its 4-day transit to the moon’s orbit. We’ll then spend approximately 16 days in lunar orbit before we begin Blue Ghost’s descent. This gives us plenty of time to calibrate our navigation system and continue payload science operations for NASA.”
Firefly launched Blue Ghost on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15.
When Blue Ghost reaches the moon, it will stay in a lunar orbit for 16 days before landing on the surface on March 2. The mission is scheduled to last a total of about 60 days and will include 14 days of operations on the moon’s surface.
Measuring about 2 meters in height and 3.5 meters across, the Blue Ghost lander will deploy 10 scientific investigations and technology demonstrations geared toward supporting future human exploration of the moon as part of the Artemis program.
It’ll touch down close to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a 500-kilometer-wide basin on the moon’s near side.
The mission has a number of objectives, including studying lunar regolith, testing new technologies for future missions, and conducting various scientific experiments, including observing Earth’s magnetic field from the moon.
Firefly says that another mission goal is to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. “Many of our Fireflies started dreaming of space at a young age filled with a sense of wonder as they looked to the stars and used their creativity in designing vehicles from building blocks. Fast forward to today and this team of dreamers are now operating our Blue Ghost lander on its journey to the moon.”
While in Earth orbit earlier this month, the spacecraft also captured this stunning image of our planet.