Two private landers touched down on the Moon this week. One didn't survive.
Commercial missions to the Moon are becoming easier, but there are still hurdles to cross for those attempting to reach the lunar south pole.
Two private lunar landers touched down on the surface of the Moon this week. While one is now conducting science from one of the vast lunar 'seas', the other did not fair as well near the Moon's south pole.
At 3:34 a.m. EST, on March 2, 2025, the first of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar landers successfully reached the surface, setting down in Mare Crisium, near a small 'mountain' called Mons Latreille. This mission, dubbed "Ghost Riders in the Sky", is the company's first flight to the Moon, and marks the first fully successful lunar landing by a private space company.
"Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative," Firefly Aerospace wrote on their website. "Upon launching on January 15, Blue Ghost spent approximately 45 days traveling to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost then successfully landed in Mare Crisium on March 2 and is now operating payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days)."
"On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night."
Just over 4 days later, at 12:30 p.m. EST on March 6, 2025, Intuitive Machines attempted their second landing at the lunar south pole.
Their first mission, IM-1 or Odysseus, made it to the surface in this same region of the Moon back in February 2024. Unfortunately, during the landing, one of Odysseus' legs broke, leaving the lander tipped over, lying on its side. Although the company was able to retrieve data from Odysseus, its mission ended shortly after.
Hopes were high that their second lander, Athena, would do better on this new attempt. However, it appears as though the IM-2 mission suffered the same fate as IM-1.
"Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side," the company wrote in an update on Friday. "After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA's PRIME-1 suite, before the lander’s batteries depleted."
"With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."
The locations of Blue Ghost 1 and IM-2 Athena are shown on this map of the Moon. For comparison, another view of the Moon to the bottom right shows the locations of the six Apollo missions that touched down from 1969-1972. (NASA/Scott Sutherland)
As shown on the map above, these two private space missions chose very different locations on the Moon to land. These choices had a direct impact on their relative success.
Blue Ghost 1's landing zone in Mare Crisium is at roughly the same latitude as the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. In fact, the vast majority of successful lunar landings have been at the "lunar mid-latitudes" or near the lunar equator. The lander touched down in a wide, flat region,
Intuitive Machines' second lander was aiming for a target zone closer to the Moon's south pole than any other mission had tried for. As the team noted in their update, the lunar south pole is "lit by harsh sun angles" and "has been avoided due to its rugged terrain."
For these reasons, along with limited direct communication with Earth prior to touchdown, it is probably the most challenging region on the Moon to attempt a landing. Still, there are important resources located there, which could be key to the future of space exploration. Thus, it will remain a focus for future missions, and we may soon see the first completely successful landing there.
(Thumbnail image courtesy NASA)