Historic Moment: First Photo of Earth Taken from the Moon

The event took place on March 2 when Blue Ghost landed in the Latreille Mountains area within Mare Crisium (Sea of ​​Crisis), a vast volcanic crater measuring 550km in diameter. Remarkably, Blue Ghost landed precisely 100 metres from the target area after skillfully executing two dangerous maneuvers.

The Earth appeared as a pale blue dot in the distance.

Immediately after landing on the lunar surface, Blue Ghost immediately transmitted impressive images of Earth from the Moon, including footage of our planet from the lunar surface.

'Landing anything on the lunar surface is an incredibly challenging engineering feat,' NASA spokesman Joel Kearns stressed at a press conference. Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace program manager Ray Allensworth said the company decided not to broadcast Blue Ghost's landing live to preserve the communications channel for transmitting telemetry data and to maintain the functionality of instruments, including a hazard detection system that helped avoid two large rocks during the landing.

According to Allensworth, NASA expects the landing to be relatively safe, but that doesn't mean there won't be any dangers. 'Fortunately we were able to avoid them (two large rocks) and land safely'.

It will be interesting to see the photo of Earth taken by Blue Ghost on March 14.

In one of the images captured by Blue Ghost, the Earth appears as a pale blue dot in the distance. One of the participants expressed his emotions upon seeing the photo, saying: 'We are all in this photo'.

'The next 14 days will be challenging and we will work hard to deliver all the scientific data from the 10 devices on board, but I am confident the company can handle it,' said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly.

The remarkable event will continue on March 14, when Blue Ghost will capture high-definition images of a total lunar eclipse, the moment when the Earth blocks the light from the Sun. At the same time, the total lunar eclipse will be visible from the Earth's surface, casting our planet in an eerie, crimson hue.

Micah Soto

Update 05 March 2025