‘Ghost Rider’ lunar modules show off the dark side of the moon ahead of March 2 moon landing

  • Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost module is set for its first moon landing
  • The module will remain on the moon for 14 days, gathering lunar data
  • Firefly is planning further missions to the moon in 2026

Published on Feb 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall

Last updated on Feb 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Kate Bain

Firefly Aerospace is gearing up for a March 2nd landing of its lunar modules, with its Blue Ghost space module already circulating the moon.

The company has released footage of the module orbiting the moon and heading around the ‘dark side’ following its SpaceX assisted launch.

This is the side of the moon in which radio comms between modules and motherships are usually lost.

The Ghost Riders module completed a full lunar orbit, and module Blue Ghost captured some fantastic footage of the moon’s dark side, taken 120 km above its surface.

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Firefly Aerospace will land its lunar module on the moon in March

These lunar orbits come as the space module gears up for its first moon landing.

The Blue Ghost module is set to land on the moon, and the mission will earn the name ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’.

The module itself took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15th, 2025, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

In total, it spent 45 days traveling to the moon ahead of its landing on March 2nd.

The landing site chosen is Mare Crisium, and the company says the module will ‘operate payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days).’

High-definition images of a total eclipse are expected from Blue Ghost

On March 14th, Firefly hopes that Blue Ghost will capture some high-definition pictures of a total eclipse as the Earth blocks the sun.

Following this, the module will then capture the lunar sunset a couple of days later on March 16th.

This will give Blue Ghost the chance to see how lunar dust levitates due to the effects of the sunset.

The final phase of the mission will see the module conduct what Firefly calls ‘lunar night operations.’

It will do this over several hours into the lunar night, and hopefully, this will bring a successful conclusion to its mission.

Should this mission prove successful, Firefly will conduct further missions in 2026.

Blue Ghost’s second mission will be to the far side of the moon. Both this and mission one are being conducted for NASA.

SpaceX could provide the rocket for the mission once again.

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Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.