By AP Aerospace Writer MARCIA DUNN
CAPE (AP) CANAVERAL, FL One week into its journey, a private American spacecraft headed for the moon has taken breathtaking pictures of Earth.
Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander, which is still in orbit around Earth, fired its thrusters Thursday, setting it on course to make it to the moon in more than a month. The spacecraft, named Blue Ghost, sent back images and videos of our planet, the Blue Marble. The photos were made public by the Texas firm on Friday.
As part of NASA’s mission to send humans back to the moon this decade, it transports experiments for the agency.
SpaceX launched two lunar landers, including Blue Ghost, from Florida on January 15. On March 2, it is aiming for a moon landing. The Japanese business ispace is sponsoring the other lander, which is traveling an even longer trip and is expected to land in late May or early June.
It is the second moonshot for iSpace, which sent its first lander into the moon in 2023, and the first for Firefly. Resilience, the newest lander from Tokyo-based iSpace, is still in orbit around the planet and is making all the necessary moves to get closer to the moon.
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