Blue Ghost Spacecraft Captures Incredible Close-Up Video of the Moon

The Blue Ghost spacecraft captured a stunning close-up video of the moon with the Earth rising and setting behind.

NASA’s Blue Ghost spacecraft recorded the footage of the moon’s surface as it gears up for its first attempt at a lunar landing this weekend.

The spacecraft, which is due to land on the Moon for the first time on Sunday (March 2), captured the unique close-up of the moon before its inaugural attempt.

In an incredible video, the distant Earth can be seen rising and setting behind the curve of the lunar surface.

The timelapse, which was captured on February 18, reveals the stunning view from the Blue Ghost lander as it completed its second orbit, from about 120 km (75 miles) away.

The footage captures the Blue Ghost spacecraft’s view of the lunar surface, marked by deep craters, while also showcasing the distant Earth and the brilliant sun, which creates a lens flare effect.

The video was captured as Blue Ghost orbited the moon after a previous lunar maneuver. Having completed three orbits, the lander’s operator, U.S. private firm Firefly Aerospace, is now making final preparations before touchdown on Sunday.

“Earth rise, Earth set, repeat!” Firefly Aerospace writes in an accompanying caption for the video. “Blue Ghost’s third and final lunar orbit maneuver is complete!

“Early this morning, our #GhostRiders performed a 16-second burn with our RCS thrusters to enter a near-circular low lunar orbit. Up next, we’ll perform a 19-second Descent Orbit Insertion at our 100-km perilune to begin our descent to Blue Ghost’s final destination, Mare Crisium, on March 2.”

Blue Ghost Aims to be the First Lunar Sunset Photographer

Hopefully, Blue Ghost will successfully land on the Moon and when it does, it aims to become the first spacecraft to photograph a sunset from the Moon’s perspective.

Here on Earth, we are used to the Sun rising and roughly 12 hours later it sets again. But sunset and sunrise work differently on the Moon: one lunar day lasts roughly 29.5 Earth days (the amount of time it takes the Moon to complete one full rotation on its axis). That means when the Sun rises on the Moon, it doesn’t go away again for another 14 Earth days.

The Apollo missions were timed so that the crew landed on the lunar surface at the start of that two-week window giving them plenty of time to carry out their scientific work. But all of this is to say that no one knows what a sunset on the Moon actually looks like.

Image credits: Header photo by Firefly Aerospace.