Private space firm captures “Blue Marble” image [Video]

• While orbiting Earth Firefly Aerospace snapped a picture of Earth.
• The company’s Ghost Riders in the Sky mission is headed for the Moon with arrival set for March.
• The Blue Ghost spacecraft is loaded with science instruments from NASA, Blue Origin and US universities.

Back in 1972, the Apollo 17 mission captured the now iconic Blue Marble photo. Captured at a distance of roughly 29 400km, the iconic image of Earth is now a commonplace name for images that capture our globe in all of its glory.

On Friday, a private space firm headed to the Moon snapped its own version of our planet. The company in question is Firefly Aerospace which launched its Ghost Riders in the Sky mission on 15th January. Its spacecraft, the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander is transporting scientific instruments to the lunar surface for NASA.

The image embedded below was captured while Blue Ghost orbits Earth. The spacecraft will …