The photo was captured during the ongoing seventh mission for the shadowy X-37B mini-shuttle, which has seen it enter into higher orbits.

Related: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander leaves Earth orbit to head for the moon

Blue Ghost launched Jan. 15 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The lander’s mission, called “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Blue Ghost is carrying 10 science and technology experiments for the agency, which wants to better understand the lunar environment before sending astronauts back to the moon via its Artemis program.

Blue Ghost will spend the next 16 days in lunar orbit, if all goes to plan. It will conduct additional engine burns to circularize its path around Earth’s nearest neighbor, then attempt a landing in the Mare Crisium (“Sea of Crises”) region of the moon’s near side on March 2.

A laboratory prototype of a plasma electric rocket engine based on a magnetic plasma accelerator has been produced by Rosatom scientists, who say it could slash travel time to Mars to one or two months.

Rosatom says that the average power of the engine, operating in pulse-periodic mode, reaches 300kW making it possible to accelerate the spacecraft to much higher speeds than conventional engines.

Alexey Voronov, first deputy director general for science at the Rosatom Research Institute in Troitsk, said: “Currently, a flight to Mars using conventional engines can take almost a year one way, which is dangerous for astronauts due to cosmic radiation and exposure to radiation. Using plasma engines can shorten the mission to 30–60 days, meaning it will be possible to send an astronaut to Mars and back.”