Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon’s northeastern edge of the near side.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander has captured a gorgeous shot of sunrise on the moon as it begins its workday on the lunar surface.

The accomplishment makes Firefly the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over.

The landing precedes by just four days the planned arrival of a second uncrewed American spacecraft built and operated by Intuitive Machines. The space exploration company, also based in Texas, etched its name in the history books a year ago when its spacecraft,

The Blue Ghost spacecraft has taken its first images of the lunar surface as Firefly Aerospace and NASA celebrate a successful moon landing.

The four-legged Blue Ghost carried 10 scientific payloads as it touched down near an ancient volcanic vent on Mare Crisium, a large basin in the northeast corner of the moon's Earth-facing side.