Blue Ghost is a small lander from Firefly Aerospace that is going to the moon. It has taken pictures of a tiny lunar eclipse, and it’s very exciting!
Firefly hired SpaceX to launch Blue Ghost on January 15. The rocket was a Falcon 9, and it launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now, Blue Ghost is in Earth orbit. It is checking its systems and getting ready to go to the moon.
While waiting, Blue Ghost is sending back beautiful photos of Earth and the moon. Recently, it took a picture of the moon as Earth blocked it out.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Firefly showed this amazing view. They wrote, “I spy with my little lander, a Moon in the distance.” Blue Ghost is excited to share more pictures as it travels.
Blue Ghost is carrying 10 research payloads for NASA. It is part of NASA’s plan to explore the moon. The lander will try to touch down in Mare Crisium in about a month.
Vocabulary List:
- Lander /ˈlændər/ (noun): A spacecraft designed to land on a celestial body.
- Eclipse /ɪˈklɪps/ (noun): An event where one celestial body moves into the shadow of another celestial body.
- Payloads /ˈpeɪ.loʊdz/ (noun): The cargo carried by a spacecraft which serves a specific purpose.
- Orbit /ˈɔːrbɪt/ (noun): The curved path of a celestial object around a star planet or moon.
- Touchdown /ˈtʌtʃˌdaʊn/ (verb): The act of landing or making contact with a surface.
- Crisium /ˈkrɪziəm/ (noun): A basalt plain on the Moon named Mare Crisium known for its impact craters.
