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Credit: Firefly Aerospace
When a private moonland was closed on the moon early Sunday morning (March 2) to write history with the first completely successful landing, NASA, Janet Petro, was enthusiastic.
And why not? The NASA and its commercial partner Firefly Aerospace were only 24 minutes from the successful landing of the Blue Ghost Moon Lander at the level of mare Krikmus – a historical, soft landing for a privately built spaceship. The probe carries 10 instruments to study the moon for NASA, while the agency’s Artemis program returns to the back surface to the astronauts returned by 2027.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said Petro during the landing webcast. “To be here and to experience a landing on the moon that appears, it is very, very exciting.”
Image of Shadow of Blue Ghost Lander on the moon, with earth in the background.
Blue Ghost Lander on the surface of the moon with a light blue dot – earth – in the background
View of the moon and earth of Fireflys Blue Ghost Moon Lander.
First photo of Blue Ghost Lander, March 2.
Screenshots from the live stream of the NASA from Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Landing on March 2.
Screenshots from the live stream of the NASA from Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Landing on March 2.
When asked by a NASA commentator, why landing was important for NASA and the US world space program, one of Petro’s next comments stood up.
“I think this government really wants to keep America first, and I think the way we keep America first dominates in all areas of space,” said Petro and repeated the “America First” rhetoric of President Donald Trump and his current administration. “And the room domain that we have been grasping this evening will be on the surface of the moon and around the moon.”
“As long as we dominate this room again and again, we will put America in the first place,” added Petro. “We will make America proud. We do this for the US citizens.”
Petro said that the Commercial Lunar Lunar Payoad Services program (or CLPS), under which Firefly is flying the Blue Ghost Mission for NASA, is of crucial importance for the establishment of a fond of fashion for the United States.
“Building this lunar economy is what will dominate us in and around the moon, so we have to do it,” added Petro.
During a press conference after the landing to celebrate the touchdown of Blue Ghost, a reporter asked the NASA discussion participant about the apparent pivot point in the tone from the more global “Mantra of Moon Exploration” during the Apollo program for “America First”.
While Petro did not speak at the press conference, Nicky Fox, the deputy administrator of the NASA directorate for Science Mission, dealt with the question.
“I just wanted to say, you know, we are very, very proud of our CLPS program,” said Fox. The CLPS program of NASA, in which the agency works with commercial companies to fly to the moon, started in 2018.
Fireflys Blue Ghost flies over 93 million US dollars with NASA in 2021 and seems to be in good shape, which takes breathtaking photos from the moon surface after a smooth landing. It is the third flight like the one in the program after an unsuccessful flight through astrobotic and sometimes success through intuitive machines, both of which performed last year. (A second intuitive machine that Lander launched on the market on February 26 and ends up on March 6th.)
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lunar Lander conquered this photo of the moon shortly after his arrival in the lunar orbit on February 13, 2025. | Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Related stories:
– “We are on the moon!” Private Blue Ghost Moon Lander Aces Historical Moon Landing
– The earth appears over the moon in astonishing 1. Photos of private blue ghost land
– Here is what NASA sends to the moon on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lunar Lander
“The idea of the CLPS program is to build a sustainable spatial economy with US companies, and that has not changed at all,” said Fox. “We are extremely proud of the work that our US trading companies do in cooperation with NASA.”
The Artemis program of NASA, which is the human spatial flight of the agency’s agency, has international cooperation, FOX added. The first Artemis mission of the crew, Artemis 2, will start in 2026 with a Canadian astronaut on board. And NASA has recruited more than 50 countries to agree to its Artemis Agreement for Collaborative Moon Research.
“When we talk about Artemis, we go back as a global community. That is why we have the Artemis Agreement,” said Fox. “We encourage all of our partners, the US partners and allies. But together with NASA and with our US companies, we will lead the world like NASA and continue to inspire the future, make great science together.”
