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A US company successfully landed its spacecraft on the Moon on Sunday, marking only the second private mission to achieve the milestone — and the first to do so upright.Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down at 3:34 am US Eastern Time (0834 GMT) near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.The mission control team in Austin, Texas, erupted in cheers as CEO Jason Kim confirmed that the spacecraft was “stable and upright.”That stood in stark contrast to the first private lunar landing last February, which toppled over upon arrival, dulling the achievement of being the first US Moon touchdown since the crewed Apollo 17 mission of 1972.”We’re on the Moon!” exclaimed Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.Blue Ghost’s program manager, Ray Allensworth, highlighted the precision of the landing, noting it touched down within 100 meters of its target.”We did do two hazard avoidance maneuvers on the way down — that tells us that our software did work exactly as it needed to,” she told reporters.The first image from the lander revealed rugged, pockmarked terrain that Blue Ghost had to autonomously navigate during its final descent, slowing from thousands of miles per hour to just two mph.Meanwhile, 95-year-old Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin joined the celebration from home, posting his congratulations on X along with a video of himself in pajamas, beaming and flashing a thumbs-up at the webcast.- NASA experiments -Nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the mission is part of a $2.6 billion NASA partnership with industry called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, which aims to cut costs and support Artemis, the program designed to return astronauts to the Moon.The golden lander — about the size of a hippopotamus — launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, capturing spectacular footage of Earth and the Moon over its 2.8 million-mile (4.5 million-kilometer) journey. It shared the ride with a Japanese company’s lander aiming for its own touchdown in May.Blue Ghost carries 10 instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer and an experiment testing the feasibility of using the existing global satellite navigation system to navigate the Moon.Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.- Another lander coming – Blue Ghost will be followed on March 6 by fellow Texas-based Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander, Athena.During the company’s first mission in February 2024, the lander touched down too fast, snagging a foot on the surface and toppling over, cutting operations short.Intuitive Machines says it has since made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped vehicle, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost and is roughly the height of a giraffe.Athena aims to touch down farther south on the Moon than any previous mission and its payloads include three rovers, a drill to search for ice, and the star of the show: a first-of-its-kind hopping drone.Landing on the Moon is uniquely challenging due to its lack of atmosphere, making parachutes useless. Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burns to slow their descent while maneuvering over hazardous terrain.Until Intuitive Machines’ first mission, only five national space agencies had accomplished this feat: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan, in that order. The missions come at a delicate moment for NASA, amid speculation that it may scale back or even cancel its Artemis lunar program in favor of prioritizing Mars exploration — a key goal of both President Donald Trump and his close advisor, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

A US company successfully landed its spacecraft on the Moon on Sunday, marking only the second private mission to achieve the milestone — and the first to do so upright.Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down shortly after 3:34 am US Eastern Time (0834 GMT) near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.”Y’all stuck the landing, we’re on the Moon,” an engineer at mission control in Austin, Texas, called out as the team erupted in cheers.CEO Jason Kim confirmed that the spacecraft was “stable and upright” — in contrast to the first private landing last February, which came down sideways.”We’re on the Moon!” Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, rejoiced.The first image from the lander revealed the rocky, pockmarked terrain it had to autonomously navigate in order to select its touchdown spot, having slowed down from thousands of miles per hour to just two mph.Nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the mission is part of a NASA-industry partnership aimed at reducing costs and supporting Artemis, the program designed to return astronauts to the Moon.The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, launched on January 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, capturing stunning footage of Earth and the Moon along its 2.8 million mile journey. It shared a ride with a Japanese company’s lander set to attempt a landing in May.Blue Ghost carries 10 instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer and an experiment testing the feasibility of using the existing global satellite navigation system to navigate the Moon.Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.- Hopping drone – Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by fellow Texas company Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander Athena.In February 2024, Intuitive Machines became the first private company to achieve a soft lunar landing — also the first US landing since the crewed Apollo 17 mission of 1972. However, the success was tempered by a mishap: the lander came down too fast and tipped over on impact, leaving it unable to generate enough solar power and cutting the mission short.This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost, and is around the height of an adult giraffe.Athena launched on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton — the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted.Its payloads include three rovers, a drill to search for ice and the star of the show: a first-of-its-kind hopping drone designed to explore the Moon’s rugged terrain.- NASA’s private Moon fleet – Landing on the Moon presents unique challenges due to the absence of an atmosphere, making parachutes ineffective.Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burns to slow their descent.Until Intuitive Machines’ first successful mission, only five national space agencies had accomplished this feat: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan, in that order. Now, the United States is working to make private lunar missions routine through NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.The missions come at a delicate moment for NASA, amid speculation that it may scale back or even cancel its Artemis lunar program in favor of prioritizing Mars exploration — a key goal of both President Donald Trump and his close advisor, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

After a long journey through space, a US company is just hours away from attempting a daring lunar touchdown — its spacecraft poised to become only the second private lander to achieve the feat if it succeeds.Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 is targeting landing no sooner than 3:34 am US Eastern time (0834 GMT) on Sunday, aiming for a site near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.”The lander has really behaved well,” Blue Ghost’s program manager Ray Allensworth said on a live webcast from mission control in Austin, Texas. “We haven’t had any major anomalies, which is fantastic.”Nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the mission comes just over a year after the first-ever commercial lunar landing and is part of a NASA partnership with industry to cut costs and support Artemis, the program aiming to return astronauts to the Moon.The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, launched on January 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, capturing stunning footage of Earth and the Moon along the way. It shared a ride with a Japanese company’s lander set to attempt a landing in May.Blue Ghost carries 10 instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer and an experiment testing the feasibility of using the existing global satellite navigation system to navigate the Moon.Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.- Hopping drone – Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by fellow Texas company Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander Athena.In February 2024, Intuitive Machines became the first private company to achieve a soft lunar landing — also the first US landing since the crewed Apollo 17 mission of 1972. However, the success was tempered by a mishap: the lander came down too fast, tipped over on impact, leaving it unable to generate enough solar power and cutting the mission short.This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost, and is around the height of an adult giraffe.Athena launched on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton — the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted.Its payloads include three rovers, a drill to search for ice and the star of the show: a first-of-its-kind hopping drone designed to explore the Moon’s rugged terrain.- NASA’s private Moon fleet – Landing on the Moon presents unique challenges due to the absence of an atmosphere, making parachutes ineffective.Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burns to slow their descent.Until Intuitive Machines’ first successful mission, only five national space agencies had accomplished this feat: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan, in that order. Now, the United States is working to make private lunar missions routine through NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.The missions come at a delicate moment for NASA, amid speculation that it may scale back or even cancel its Artemis lunar program in favor of prioritizing Mars exploration — a key goal of both President Donald Trump and his close advisor, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

With planting season well under way in California, the leading US food-producing state, fear is taking root among thousands of migrants who labor to feed a country that now seems ready to deport them.”We have to stay hidden,” Lourdes Cardenas, a 62-year-old Mexican living in the city of Fresno, told AFP.”You are unsure if you will encounter the immigration authorities. We can’t be free anywhere, not in schools, not in churches, not in supermarkets,” said Cardenas, who has lived in the United States for 22 years.President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has left people like her “depressed, sad, anxious” and fearful of being deported, she said.Cardenas is one of more than two million people working on farms in the United States. Most were born outside the country, speak Spanish and, on average, arrived more than 15 years ago. Still, 42 percent of them lack the documents that would allow them to work legally, according to the government’s own figures.In January, surprise raids by immigration officials in Bakersfield, an agricultural city about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the Mexican border, sent chills through workers in California’s breadbasket Central Valley.They were a stark reminder that the country some of them have called home for decades elected a man who wants them gone.”We were not afraid of the pandemic,” said Cardenas, who did not stop working during the worst months of Covid-19. “But right now this is getting bad for us.” – Lower wages – While they might be staying away from church, or altering their shopping habits, the one thing these migrant workers cannot do is stay away from work.That is why for the United Farm Workers, the largest farm workers’ union in the United States, the threatened mass deportations will not translate into more jobs for Americans.Instead, they say, it will further drive down the cost of those migrant workers, making employers less likely to pay them the much higher salaries that American workers demand.”You have thousands of people who are so afraid of being deported that they’re willing to work for way less,” union spokesman Antonio de Loera told AFP. “They’re not going to report wage theft. So if anything, it’s undercutting the value of American workers.”This status quo serves the interest of many employers in the agricultural industry. For them, this is the sweet spot,” de Loera said. “They have their workers but their workers are so afraid that they won’t organize, they won’t ask for higher wages, they won’t even report violations of labor law or unsafe working conditions.”There is, he said, a fairly simple solution: grant the workers legal status.”Once they are US citizens, then we’re all competing on a fair, level playing field. We all have the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.”- Trend to automation -The overall uncertainty offers an opportunity for companies that manufacture increasingly automated machines.”The agricultural community depends a lot upon migrant labor and if they’re no longer available or able to get to work, we need to help come up with solutions,” said Loren Vandergiessen, a product specialist at farm implement maker Oxbo. The company was one of a number present at the World Ag Expo, the largest agricultural exhibition in the United States, held last month in Tulare, north of Bakersfield.Its line-up included a berry harvester the company estimates reduces labor requirements by up to 70 percent.Cory Venable, Oxbo’s director of sales and advertising, said automation can help a farmer’s bottom line.”It’s becoming harder to find people to be able to do this work,” and labor costs are challenging, he said.”So by having this type of technology, we can decrease that sum.”Gary Thompson, director of operations for Global Unmanned Spray System, was showcasing a device that can allow one person to operate a fleet capable of doing the work that would require up to a dozen tractors.”Over the years, the labor challenges just continually get more and more difficult: the shortage of labor, the cost, the regulations involved,” he said.”The farming industry is really looking at autonomy, not as just like, oh, that’s something in the future, but it’s something that’s happening now.”But for those already laboring in the fields, such machines can never replace the human touch required for picking grapes, peaches and plums.”A machine will destroy them,” said Cardenas, “and we cannot.””We farmers are indispensable.”

The United States on Saturday denounced what it said were Venezuelan naval vessels “threatening” an ExxonMobil unit in maritime territory claimed by Guyana.The statement, which warned of “consequences” if there were further provocation from Caracas, came hours after Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said a Venezuelan patrol boat had “approached various assets in our exclusive waters” around 7:00 am (1100 GMT).Guyana had “put its international partners on alert,” he said on Facebook.The US State Department warned against any further encroachment.”Venezuelan naval vessels threatening ExxonMobil’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is unacceptable and a clear violation of Guyana’s internationally recognized maritime territory,” said the statement from the department’s US Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.”Further provocation will result in consequences for the Maduro regime,” it warned.English-speaking Guyana, long one of the poorest countries in Latin America, has seen heightened tensions with Venezuela over control of the disputed Essequibo territory, a sprawling region rich in natural resources.Tensions have flared since 2015, after petroleum giant ExxonMobil discovered enormous deposits that gave Guyana, a country of just 800,000 people and with a tiny military, the largest crude oil reserves in the world.The government in Georgetown granted a new contract in April 2024 to ExxonMobil, further fueling tensions.Ali said on Facebook that the floating production vessels were “operating legally within Guyana’s exclusive economic zone.””Guyana remains committed to peace and the rule of law,” he said in a later post.”We will continue to seek diplomatic solutions, but we will not tolerate threats to our territorial integrity.” Venezuela for its part said it “categorically repudiates the unfounded statements” by Ali, claiming he was “blatantly lying” by saying its navy had violated Guyana’s territory.”Those waters are not part of Guyanese territory, since it is a maritime zone pending delimitation in accordance with international law,” a foreign ministry statement said.- Soldiers wounded -Tensions were fanned on February 17 when Guyana said six of its soldiers were wounded when a supply transport was ambushed, allegedly by members of a Venezuelan criminal gang.That happened on the anniversary of the signing of a 1966 agreement between Venezuela and Britain, reached before Guyanese independence, which called for a negotiated solution to the territorial dispute.Guyana, however, insists that an earlier 1899 ruling has fixed the disputed border in its favor.In 2023, Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro proposed declaring a Venezuelan province in the disputed territory. Ali and Maduro met amid the heightened tensions in December that year for talks on neutral ground, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.They agreed to avoid any use of force, “directly or indirectly.”Weeks after the meeting, Britain sent the patrol ship HMS Trent on a port visit to Georgetown, a gesture Maduro deemed a “provocation and threat by the United Kingdom.” Venezuela then launched a major military exercise in the border region, including more than 5,600 soldiers, F-14 fighter jets, amphibious vessels and patrol boats.

France’s president used charm to deal with Donald Trump. Britain’s prime minister pulled out a royal invitation.But when Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky found himself disagreeing with the combustible US president, he tried bluntness instead — and paid a price.Friday’s shocking scene in the Oval Office blew up a years-long wartime alliance between pro-Western Ukraine and the United States.Zelensky, previously hailed in Washington as a Churchillian figure, was shouted at by Trump and Vice President JD Vance, then ejected from the White House without lunch.And also without signing a US-Ukraine minerals sharing deal, seen as key to American backing for a truce with Russia.Zelensky’s sin? Publicly contradicting Trump on facts of the Ukraine war, then refusing to back down.”He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office,” Trump posted on social media.Since returning for a second term, Trump has stretched the norms and even legal boundaries of how much power a US president can wield at home.In foreign policy, he is also making clear that the days of consensus-building are over. Now, it’s whatever he says goes.Nowhere is that shift starker than on Ukraine.Trump’s U-turn — in which Russia is more partner than pariah and Ukraine more a client than ally — brought French President Emmanuel Macron and British PM Keir Starmer rushing to the White House this week.Like Zelensky, they worry that Trump wants to force Kyiv into a peace deal that gives Russian President Vladimir Putin what he wants, while leaving Ukraine broken and insecure.But they both knew they had to cater to Trump’s demand to be treated as a leader who shouldn’t be questioned.Macron engaged Trump in a series of handshakes, knee touching and back slapping that clearly pleased his host. This helped to soften the tension when the French president publicly corrected Trump after he repeated one of his most frequent falsehoods — that Europe gives far less money than Washington to Ukraine and will get it all back.Days later, Starmer heard the same disinformation and also corrected Trump. Yet Starmer already had delighted Trump with a signed invitation from King Charles III to visit Britain.- Angry tag-team -In Zelensky’s case, the stakes were entirely different.Rather than correcting Trump on the relatively minor issue of who’s paying what, he tried to push back on the White House’s entire embrace of an increasingly pro-Moscow narrative.Even before he arrived, Trump and his Republican allies had taken to calling Zelensky a dictator and echoing false Kremlin claims that Russia didn’t start the war.Then, in front of journalists invited for the occasion, Trump insisted to Zelensky that he would have to compromise with Putin and chided him for being hostile to the man Zelensky called a “killer.”When Vance chimed in, calling Zelensky ungrateful and an obstacle to diplomacy, the Ukrainian made his fateful decision to debate.”What kind of diplomacy, JD?” he asked Vance, enumerating diplomatic initiatives over the years that have failed to stop Moscow’s military encroachments.Vance angrily called Zelensky “disrespectful” and before long he and Trump were tag-teaming against their would-be ally.- Would flattery have worked? -Trump’s followers immediately blamed Zelensky.”What kind of dictator would insult President Trump and VP Vance while begging for money to fund a war he could never win?” wrote @GuntherEagleman, a far-right Trump supporter whose real name is David Freeman and has 1.3 million followers on X.Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hardcore Trump supporter in Congress, called Zelensky “arrogant.”Her boyfriend Brian Glenn, who was in the Oval Office as a reporter for right-wing Real America’s Voice television, mockingly asked Ukraine’s president why he wasn’t wearing a suit.”I will wear (a suit) after this war finishes,” Zelensky, who wears military-style outfits, answered wearily.Some analysts said Zelensky should have been more strategic.”The only thing Zelensky should have said in public — no matter what the question — was ‘Thank you, Mr President. Thank you, America,” Fox News commentator and retired general Jack Keane said. “Over and over.”CNN foreign policy expert Fareed Zakaria said Zelensky’s first words should have been that Trump was “a genius.”But for Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, no amount of diplomatic skills or flattery would have saved Zelensky, because Trump was pushing a settlement that “hands Ukraine to Putin” — and Zelensky knew it.The Oval Office was an “ambush,” Murphy wrote on X.

Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York and a man once thought to have his eye on the presidency, said Saturday he will run in November to be mayor of New York City.The current mayor of the largest US city, Eric Adams, is embattled — politically wounded by indictment on corruption charges. Cuomo himself resigned amid scandal in 2021 after 10 years as governor following accusations of sexual harassment. A prosecutor dropped charges against him in January 2022.”Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them, and that I am a better person for it, and I hope to show you that every day,” the 67-year-old Cuomo said in announcing his candidacy in a video on X.”New York City is in trouble,” he declared, adding that was why he decided to run. “You see it in the empty storefronts, the graffiti, the grime, the migrant influx, the random violence — the city just feels threatening, out of control and in crisis.”He said he had frequently worked with then-New York real estate developer Donald Trump, adding, “I hope President Trump remembers his hometown and works with us to make it better.” The New York Times called Cuomo’s declared candidacy an “audacious comeback attempt” after he resigned in disgrace.Adams, a former police officer elected in 2021 on promises to make the city safer, has seen his popularity plummet as New York struggles with an influx of more than 200,000 migrants.He has promised to work more closely with the Trump administration on migrant issues. Trump’s Justice Department took the unusual step of suspending its corruption case against Adams, prompting suggestions — which both sides deny — of a quid pro quo.Cuomo, the son of New York governor Mario Cuomo, has a long history as one of the Democratic party’s most prominent liberals.He was secretary of housing and urban development under President Bill Clinton, and later served as New York attorney general.   As governor, he signed state legislation to legalize same-sex marriage and medical use of cannabis, as well as one of the country’s strictest gun control laws.

The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, the US military said Saturday.Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the US frontier with Mexico on his first day in office.”Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division” will be sent to the border, along with “approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,” US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) said in a statement.The Stryker unit “will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,” it said, but rather will assist in detection and monitoring, administrative duties and transportation and engineering support, among other tasks.Troops from the aviation unit will meanwhile “assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,” NORTHCOM said.”These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,” its commander, General Gregory Guillot said.- Trump says ‘invasion’ is over -The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations.Trump on Saturday hailed his administration’s border security efforts, posting on his Truth Social platform that “the Invasion of our Country is OVER.””Thanks to the Trump Administration Policies, the Border is CLOSED to all Illegal Immigrants. Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation,” the president wrote.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth visited the southern frontier at the beginning of last month, vowing that “we are going to get control of this border.”He warned drug cartels that “all options are on the table,” after Trump signed an executive order in January that said they “constitute a national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.”Hegseth also said that “any assets necessary” from the Defense Department will be used to support “the expulsion and detention of those in our country illegally,” including the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the September 11, 2001 attacks — and US forces have held dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported.

More than fifty years passed between the last Apollo mission and the United States’ return to the lunar surface, when the first-ever private lander touched down last February. Now, starting Sunday, two more missions are set to follow within a single week, marking a bold push by NASA and its industry partners to make Moon landings a routine part of space exploration.First up is Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”After launching in January on a 45-day journey, it is targeting touchdown near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side, at 3:34 am US Eastern time (0834 GMT). Along the way, it has captured stunning footage of the Moon, coming as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the surface.The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, carries ten instruments, including one to analyze lunar soil, another to test radiation-tolerant computing, and a GPS-based navigation system. Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.- Hopping drone – Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander, Athena.Last year, Intuitive Machines made history as the first private company to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, though the moment was tempered by a mishap.Coming down too fast, one of the lander’s feet caught on the lunar surface, tipping it over and causing it to rest sideways — limiting its ability to generate solar power and cutting the mission short. This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost, and is around the height of an adult giraffe. Athena launched on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton — the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted.It carries an ambitious set of payloads, including a unique hopping drone designed to explore the Moon’s underground passages carved by ancient lava flows, a drill capable of digging three feet beneath the surface in search of ice, and three rovers. The largest, about the size of a beagle, will connect to the lander and hopper using a Nokia cellular network in a first-of-its-kind demonstration.But “Grace,” the hopping drone — named after computing pioneer Grace Hopper — could well steal the show if it succeeds in showing it can navigate the Moon’s treacherous terrain in ways no rover can.- NASA’s private Moon fleet – Landing on the Moon presents unique challenges due to the absence of an atmosphere, making parachutes ineffective. Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burns to slow their descent while navigating hazardous terrain.Until Intuitive Machines’ first successful mission, only five national space agencies had accomplished this feat: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan, in that order. Now, the United States is working to make private lunar missions routine through NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, a public-private initiative designed to deliver hardware to the surface at a fraction of traditional mission costs.These missions come at a pivotal moment for NASA, amid speculation that it may scale back or even cancel its Artemis lunar program in favor of prioritizing Mars exploration — a key goal of both President Donald Trump and his close advisor, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.