Private Lander Carrying NASA Experiments Lands on the Moon
2025-03-06
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1A private spacecraft carrying several science experiments has successfully landed on the moon.
2The lander, called Blue Ghost, was built by the American company Firefly Aerospace.
3The spacecraft touched down March 2 on the part of the moon's near side called Mare Crisium.
4The near side of the moon is the side facing Earth.
5Officials at Firefly's Mission Control center near Austin, Texas, confirmed the successful landing.
6The chief engineer for the Blue Ghost mission, Will Coogan, announced to excited workers: "We're on the moon."
7The officials said the spacecraft landed in the right position and was operating normally.
8The successful touchdown makes Firefly the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or having a major problem.
9Only five countries can claim successful moon landings: Russia, the United States, China, India and Japan.
10Blue Ghost is named after a rare kind of firefly found in the U.S.
11The four-legged lander is two meters tall and 3.5 meters wide.
12It launched in mid-January from Florida, carrying 10 experiments for the American space agency NASA.
13In a statement, NASA said the 10 experiments are designed to operate on the surface of the moon for one lunar day, which is about 14 Earth days.
14The Associated Press reported that NASA paid $101 million for the spacecraft and $44 million for the equipment it carried.
15It was the third mission under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
16The program aims to turn over the country's major space missions to private companies to reduce costs.
17Several other companies are part of the program.
18Another lander, called Athena, is set to attempt a moon landing on March 6.
19That four-meter-tall spacecraft was built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines.
20It will land on another part of the moon, about 160 kilometers from the lunar south pole.
21A third lander from private Japanese company ispace will attempt a moon landing in about three months.
22The lander, called Resilience, shared its rocket ride with Blue Ghost.
23But it took a longer path to the moon.
24The company is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time.
25Its first lander crashed in 2023.
26NASA has said it aims to have two private landers launch to the moon each year, realizing some missions will fail.
27The space agency's top science officer is Nicky Fox.
28She told the AP the latest launches "open up a whole new way for us to get more science to space and to the moon."
29In the past, NASA's successful moon landings involving astronauts cost billions of dollars.
30But Firefly chief Jason Kim said the private companies now building and launching spacecraft have a limited budget and the spacecraft operate robotically.
31Kim said everything went just as planned with Blue Ghost's landing.
32"We got some moon dust on our boots," he added.
33I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A private spacecraft carrying several science experiments has successfully landed on the moon. 2The lander, called Blue Ghost, was built by the American company Firefly Aerospace. The spacecraft touched down March 2 on the part of the moon's near side called Mare Crisium. The near side of the moon is the side facing Earth. 3Officials at Firefly's Mission Control center near Austin, Texas, confirmed the successful landing. The chief engineer for the Blue Ghost mission, Will Coogan, announced to excited workers: "We're on the moon." 4The officials said the spacecraft landed in the right position and was operating normally. The successful touchdown makes Firefly the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or having a major problem. 5Only five countries can claim successful moon landings: Russia, the United States, China, India and Japan. 6Blue Ghost is named after a rare kind of firefly found in the U.S. The four-legged lander is two meters tall and 3.5 meters wide. It launched in mid-January from Florida, carrying 10 experiments for the American space agency NASA. 7In a statement, NASA said the 10 experiments are designed to operate on the surface of the moon for one lunar day, which is about 14 Earth days. The Associated Press reported that NASA paid $101 million for the spacecraft and $44 million for the equipment it carried. 8It was the third mission under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The program aims to turn over the country's major space missions to private companies to reduce costs. Several other companies are part of the program. 9Another lander, called Athena, is set to attempt a moon landing on March 6. That four-meter-tall spacecraft was built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines. It will land on another part of the moon, about 160 kilometers from the lunar south pole. 10A third lander from private Japanese company ispace will attempt a moon landing in about three months. The lander, called Resilience, shared its rocket ride with Blue Ghost. But it took a longer path to the moon. The company is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023. 11NASA has said it aims to have two private landers launch to the moon each year, realizing some missions will fail. The space agency's top science officer is Nicky Fox. She told the AP the latest launches "open up a whole new way for us to get more science to space and to the moon." 12In the past, NASA's successful moon landings involving astronauts cost billions of dollars. But Firefly chief Jason Kim said the private companies now building and launching spacecraft have a limited budget and the spacecraft operate robotically. 13Kim said everything went just as planned with Blue Ghost's landing. "We got some moon dust on our boots," he added. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and NASA reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 16___________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18mission - n. (space exploration) the flight of a spacecraft to its target along with tasks expected to be carried out 19boot - v. a strong shoe that covers the foot and part of the leg