A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other equipment to deliver for NASA touched down on the moon on Sunday, the latest of several companies seeking to kickstart business on Earth’s natural satellite ahead of astronaut missions.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, targeting the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon’s northeastern edge of the near side.
The company’s Mission Control, located outside Austin, Texas, confirmed a successful landing.
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“You all stuck the landing. We’re on the moon,” Firefly’s Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, said.
An upright and stable landing made Firefly the first private company to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Some governments working on space flight have failed in the past, as only five countries — Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan — have been successful.
Blue Ghost, which was named after a rare U.S. species of firefly, is a four-legged lander standing 6-foot-6 tall and 11 feet wide, offering extra stability, according to the company.
About half an hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures from the surface. The first image was a selfie somewhat obscured by the sun’s glare.
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Two other companies’ landers are making missions soon, with the next one expected to join the Blue Ghost on the moon later this week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
