Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar landing module took a stunning photo of the solar eclipse from the surface of the Moon. The photo, which captures the “diamond ring” effect, was taken at 1:30 a.m. ET on Friday, March 14, when the Earth covered most of the Sun.
The solar eclipse on the Moon occurred at the same time as a total lunar eclipse on Earth, when the Moon took on a reddish hue for Earth observers. Blue Ghost landed on the moon on March 2 at 3:30 a.m. ET near the Sea of Crisis and will operate for about 14 days until the lunar nightfall. Firefly also released another image from an earlier stage of the eclipse, which shows the module's solar panel against the Sun hiding behind Earth's shadow.
The vehicle is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, collecting data to support future manned lunar missions.