A private lunar lander has captured the first high-definition sunset pictures from the moon, sending back stunning images before falling silent. Firefly Aerospace and NASA released the photos, taken before the Blue Ghost lander died due to lack of solar energy. The images show the horizon glow, a feature that has sparked debate about its origin.
The Blue Ghost landed on March 2, becoming the first private spacecraft to touch down upright and perform its entire mission. It collected science data for five hours into the lunar night before shutting down. Scientists will need to analyze the images in depth to determine whether the horizon glow is created by levitating dust, a theory proposed over 50 years ago.
The lander carried out 10 experiments for NASA under the commercial lunar delivery program, but faced challenges, including an on-board drill that only penetrated 3 feet into the moon. Firefly plans to try and reactivate the lander in early April, although engineers are skeptical about its chances of succeeding.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-03-blue-ghost-lander-captures-stunning.html