A compact, unmanned spacecraft is presently circling the Moon, with fewer than two weeks left before its daring effort to land on the lunar surface.

Firefly Aerospace, a private enterprise engaged by NASA to ferry scientific equipment to the Moon, has achieved another significant benchmark in its mission. On Tuesday, its **Blue Ghost lander**—named after a unique variety of firefly—successfully reignited its engine in space to modify its elliptical lunar orbit. This operation, which lasted three minutes and 18 seconds, brought the lander to within 75 miles of the Moon’s surface.

One of the most astonishing features of this mission is the footage transmitted back to mission control, depicting the Moon’s **far side**—an area that only 24 individuals, all Apollo astronauts from the 1960s and 1970s, have personally witnessed. The video highlights the heavily cratered landscape as the spacecraft soars above it.

### Investigating the Moon’s Far Side

The far side of the Moon is the hemisphere that perpetually turns away from Earth. Because of this, it was once inaccurately labeled the “dark side,” fostering the misconception that it is always enveloped in shadow. In reality, it receives an equal amount of sunlight as the near side.

Situated approximately **250,000 miles from Earth**, the Moon takes roughly a month to complete its orbit around our planet as well as to rotate on its axis. This synchronization accounts for our consistent view of the same side of the Moon.

Prior to the advent of space exploration, many speculated that the far side was an enigmatic and possibly perilous area—a notion made popular by Pink Floyd’s 1973 album *The Dark Side of the Moon*. However, this mystery was unveiled in **October 1959**, when the Soviet Luna 3 probe captured the first photographs of the far side. These blurry images revealed a landscape starkly different from the near side, featuring fewer dark plains identified as **maria**—regions formed by ancient volcanic activity—alongside a surface marked by craters of assorted sizes.

In 2019, China made history as the first and only nation to land an uncrewed spacecraft on the far side during its **Chang’e-4 mission**. Given that direct communication with the far side is obstructed by the Moon itself, China launched a relay satellite in 2018 to aid signal transmission between Earth and the lander.

### Firefly’s Mission and Lunar Touchdown

Firefly’s **Blue Ghost lander**, initially slated for launch in late 2024, is NASA’s first **Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)** mission of the year. NASA has invested **$2.6 billion** in contracts with private companies to transport scientific equipment to the Moon and collect essential data.

For this mission, Firefly is transporting **10 NASA instruments**, with the space agency allocating **$101.5 million** for the delivery. These missions are vital for laying the groundwork for future **Artemis** missions, which aim to send astronauts to the Moon as early as 2027.

Mission control has planned **Blue Ghost’s landing for 3:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 2, 2025**. If successful, the spacecraft will settle in **Mare Crisium**, a vast plain formed by ancient lava. This location, situated in the Moon’s northeast quadrant on the near side, will yield valuable information about the lunar environment and assist in testing technologies for upcoming human landings.

### Obstacles of Lunar Landings

While live video of the descent won’t be available, NASA and Firefly will offer **live commentary** beginning at **2:30 a.m. ET** on the day of the landing.

“During landing, our available bandwidth will be dedicated to critical descent operations, so we will not be streaming live video,” Firefly representatives stated on **X (formerly Twitter)**.

Landing on the Moon presents a highly challenging endeavor. The Moon’s **exosphere** provides virtually no atmospheric drag to decelerate a spacecraft, and there are no GPS systems to aid navigation. Moreover, the Moon’s weaker gravity renders everything **six times more unstable** than on Earth.

While several space agencies have successfully landed on the Moon, only one private company, **Intuitive Machines**, has achieved this task. In February 2024, its spacecraft landed near the Moon’s south pole—albeit in a sideways position—but managed to remain operational.

With Firefly’s **Blue Ghost** mission, NASA progresses in its efforts toward establishing a sustained lunar presence, paving the way for future astronaut-led missions and further space exploration.