Blue Ghost's final descent to the Moon is tentatively scheduled for March 2. The target landing site is in Mare Crisium, an ancient 350-mile-wide (560-kilometer) impact basin in the northeast part of the near side of the Moon.

Blue Ghost was launched by SpaceX on January 15 and it will spend 25 days in Earth orbit. The following four days after that will be spent in lunar transit before it enters the lunar orbit. It will spend 16 more days orbiting the Moon before attempting a landing in the Mare Crisium region.

A new year of lunar exploration kicked off early Wednesday, when two robotic landers and a small rover began their journeys to the moon.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost — named after a species of U.S. Southeastern fireflies — should reach the moon first. The 6-foot-6-inches-tall (2-meter-tall) lander will attempt a touchdown in early March at Mare Crisium, a volcanic plain in the northern latitudes.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander launched at 1:11 a.m. Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the SpaceX rocket before separating an hour later. The lunar lander — part of a mission known as Blue Ghost Mission 1 or Ghost Riders in the Sky — will spend 45 days in orbit and 14 days on the surface of the moon.

A private U.S. spacecraft bound for the moon has captured stunning images of Earth one week into its flight. Still circling Earth, Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander fired its thrusters Thursday to put it on a path to reach the moon in over a month.

The Blue Ghost moon lander, launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is captivating space enthusiasts with breathtaking views of Earth while preparing for its historic lunar mission. This mission,