The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which left Earth’s orbit a few days back, recently captured a stunning up-close view of the moon, as it prepares for its upcoming landing on Earth’s only natural satellite.
Firefly Aerospace, the Texas-based company operating the spacecraft, released striking images just days after the lander entered lunar orbit, beginning its 45-day journey to the surface. The footage shows the moon’s far side, which is not visible from Earth, with our planet rising and setting behind it.
In the footage, the Blue Ghost lander’s solar panel and X-band antenna are visible on the left, while on the right, the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) instrument can be seen.
Blue Ghost lander approaching lunar surface
The marvellous images of moon were documented as the Blue Ghost lander approaches the lunar surface ahead of its planned landing in the early hours of Sunday, March 2.
The Blue Ghost, which was launched from Florida on January 15, is likely to face competition from another lander by Intuitive Machines, which is set to launch on Wednesday, March 5 on a shorter eight-day mission, reported USA Today.
How to watch Blue Ghost landing
The Blue Ghost will prepare to descend for touch down on the moon on Sunday, March 2 at 3:45 am EST, which is around 2:15pm the same day.
Firefly and NASA would be live streaming the landing of the Blue Ghost. You can catch the coverage on NASA+ on Sunday (March 2) at 2:30 am EST, which is around 2:15pm IST. The broadcast will also be available for streaming on Firefly’s YouTube channel.
More about Blue Ghost spacecraft
The Blue Ghost spacecraft, which left Earth’s orbit a few days before entering lunar orbit on February 13, completed its third and final engine burn Sunday night to position itself as close to the moon as possible before landing on the near side.
However, it was during its second lunar orbit engine burn on February 18 that Blue Ghost captured breathtaking footage of the moon’s far side.
Moments after firing its engines, the spacecraft took a stunning shot about 75 miles above the lunar surface, showing Earth rising and setting behind the moon, reported USA Today.
