An asteroid that orbited near Earth for a few months as a mini-moon may be a chunk of the moon that was blasted off by an impact thousands of years ago.

New research suggests that Earth's recent mini-moon might have originated as part of our actual moon long, long ago.

On Monday (Jan. 27), Texas-based Firefly released two photos of the moon that Blue Ghost captured from Earth orbit. One shows the natural satellite all alone, a small grayish dot in an empty black sea; the other is a selfie, showing the moon glowing above some of Blue Ghost's golden hardware.

Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 has taken a significant leap toward the Moon, with its successful second engine burn positioning the spacecraft for lunar orbit. NASA’s science and technology instruments aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 are making steady progress toward the Moon.

After an extended delay brought on by unfavorable weather conditions and a vehicle issue that required troubleshooting, Blue Origin has scrubbed its Tuesday morning launch. This trip was intended to simulate the moon’s gravity and would have flown 30 payloads,

Blue Origin is preparing for its latest launch. This one, set for Tuesday morning, is intended to simulate the moon’s gravity and will fly 30 payloads, according to the company. The launch window for the New Shepard flight,