A private spacecraft has landed on the Moon, becoming only the second commercial vehicle to reach the lunar surface.
The Blue Ghost left Earth on January 15th, after being launched by an American company. Firefly Aerospace with the intention of exploring a huge crater visible from Earth.
The project is the latest collaboration between the US space agency NASA and private companies.
Intuitive machines, another company, hopes to land its spacecraft in the next few days Athena near the south pole of the Moon.
- Russia sends spacecraft to the moon after almost half a century
- "Welcome back to Earth": Successful return after first commercial spacewalk
- The Starliner spacecraft has returned from space without a crew
Intuitive was the first private company to land on the Moon. Its spacecraft Odyssey arrived on the Moon on February 22nd of last year.
However, the mission was short-lived as the spacecraft landed on the slope of a crater, broke off part of it and overturned.
The Blue Ghost flew in smoothly, having been orbiting the Moon for the past two weeks.
Headquarters staff Firefly-and in Texas, there was enthusiastic applause and chanting when they were told the landing was successful.
Simeon Barber, a planetary science researcher at the Open University, said Blue Spirit was essentially the first successful private venture to the Moon, as the vehicle was intact and responsive.
"[They] demonstrated technology for landing on the surface of the moon, the kind that had been forgotten since the Apollo era when we had astronauts on the [lunar] surface," he told the BBC.
The significance of the Moon for many private companies, Barber added, was to use it as a launching pad for exploring the rest of the universe.
"By going to the Moon, we can learn how to operate robotic instruments in space [and] in the lunar environment, which is sometimes hot and sometimes cold. It's very dusty, there's a lot of radiation."
He said that at some point, it is likely that humans will return to the surface of the Moon, where they have stopped landing due to a lack of funding.
The last time humans set foot on the Moon was on December 19, 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission.
"The Apollo missions were extremely successful," Barber explained. "But they were 'touch and go' missions.
Then the astronauts were there for three days before they had to leave again, because the costs were billions of dollars.
"That's not sustainable," he said.
https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1896158394295390367
Barber said it is now believed that bringing in private companies would help reduce costs.
The first private company to attempt to reach the Moon was another American firm, Astrobotic Technology.
They attempted to reach the Moon in January 2024, but their lander never reached the Moon, due to a suspected fuel leak, and crashed back to Earth.
The fiery descent meant the spacecraft broke up in the final moments before plunging into the South Pacific Ocean.
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
Bonus video:
