NASA’s Blue Ghost lunar lander has been sharing breathtaking images of the moon since it successfully entered its orbit on February 13. The latest footage features a close-up of the far side, an area not visible from Earth, taken after the lander transitioned to a lower elliptical orbit.
The spacecraft captured stunning visuals of the moon’s rocky surface dotted with impact craters and an area of the lunar south pole. According to Joseph Marlin, deputy chief engineer for Blue Ghost, “the latest Moon footage is completely surreal.” The lander also captured imagery of an area near Mons Latreille, an ancient volcanic feature in a 300-plus-mile-wide basin called Mare Crisium.
Blue Ghost is expected to land on the moon’s near side by March 2 and perform surface operations for one lunar day. During its stay, it will capture data primarily on the moon’s subsurface, including lunar dust and regolith. The lander carries 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
The mission is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in over 50 years. Robotic deliveries like Blue Ghost perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities on and around the Moon to prepare for astronaut missions. The engineers behind Blue Ghost are excited about the data collected after landing and the imagery they hope to acquire during a solar eclipse on March 14.
The lander will also capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing an opportunity to verify the dust levitation phenomenon first observed by the last Apollo astronaut on the Moon.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/24/science/blue-ghost-update-moon-orbit/index.html