Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander expected to land on moon

The Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander, nicknamed 'Ghost Riders in the Sky', as it is set to land near Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium on the Moon's northeastern near side on Sunday.

The lander, launched in January on a 45-day journey, is golden and about the size of a hippopotamus. It carries ten instruments, including one to study lunar soil, another to test radiation-resistant computing, and a GPS-based navigation system.

Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon's horizon. On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence -- creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.