US firm Firefly makes its first moon landing with uncrewed Blue Ghost spacecraft

(Reuters) – Firefly Aerospace became the second U.S. company to land on the moon on Sunday with its debut Blue Ghost lander, kicking off a two-week research mission as one of a handful of private firms to reach the frontlines of a global moon race.

The size of a compact car, the four-legged Blue Ghost carried 10 scientific payloads as it touched down at 3:35am ET near an ancient volcanic vent on Mare Crisium, a large basin in the northeast corner of the moon’s Earth-facing side.Flight controllers at Firefly’s Austin, Texas headquarters watched as Blue Ghost descended toward the moon’s surface at a gentle two miles per hour, confirming on a live stream that the spacecraft had entered lunar gravity.We’re on the moon,” a company official in mission control declared.Firefly became the second private firm to score a soft moon landing. Houston-based Intuitive Machines’ LUNR.O Odysseus lander made a lopsided soft touchdown last year. Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past – the then-Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India and, last year, Japan.