Area of the Moon not seen from Earth filmed in incredible detail by spacecraft

The Blue Ghost lunar lander has given us a magnificent view of the moon since it successfully entered the satellite’s orbit on 13 February.

Flyby footage shows a close-up shot of the far side of the moon which is an area of that is not visible from Earth.

The lander, which left Earth on 15 January aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, captured footage after it transitioned from a high elliptical orbit to a lower elliptical orbit. This is about 120 kilometers (74.6 miles) above the moon’s surface.

All the impact craters along the rocky surface can be seen in unprecedented detail. The Firefly Aerospace-operated spacecraft also captured content of the lunar south pole.

Blue Ghost captured footage of the moon's surfaceFirefly Aerospace

The time lapse footage was taken on 18 February, 10 days after the spacecraft left Earth’s orbit. It has now circumnavigated the Moon three times ahead of its planned touchdown on 2 March on Mare Crisium located on the moon's nearside (the side that faces Earth). It circled Earth a few times before setting off on a four-day journey to the moon.

Blue Ghost also captured stunning images of EarthFirefly Aerospace

The Blue Ghost mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The lander itself carries 10 NASA science and technology instruments. CLPS is a key part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time in over five decades.

Blue Ghost will land on the moon on 2 MarchFirefly Aerospace

Once Blue Ghost lands on the lunar surface, it will operate for over two weeks (one full lunar day), gathering data mostly on the moon’s subsurface, including lunar dust and regolith, which are loose rocks and mineral fragments that blanket the surface.

“In addition to the wealth of science we plan to transmit to Earth from (CLPS) experiments, we expect to capture a solar eclipse on March 14 where the Earth will block the sun from the Moon’s surface and cast Blue Ghost into a shadow for about five hours,” Joseph Marlin, deputy chief engineer for Blue Ghost, said per CNN.

“Then we’ll capture the lunar sunset on March 16 and hopefully verify the dust levitation phenomenon (when lunar dust appears to ‘levitate’ above the moon’s surface) that was first sketched by the last Apollo astronaut on the moon.”

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