US spacecraft Odysseus makes first moon landing in more than 50 years

News, US February 24, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

For the first time since 1972, a U.S.-made robotic lunar lander named Odysseus has made it to the moon successfully carrying out its first cargo mission. Odysseus is the first spacecraft built by a private company to land on the lunar surface.

Announced to the webcast by the Houston-based Intuitive Machines, the company behind the unmanned robot lander Odysseus, the moon lander successfully touched down near the lunar south pole at approximately 23:23 GMT on February 22, 2024. Intuitive Machines executed the project with NASA’s support and funding.

The successful landing came after a nerve-wracking final descent, during which flight controllers had to transition to an untried landing system due to an issue with the spacecraft’s autonomous navigation system.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson described the landing as a “triumph for humanity” and a “new adventure in science, innovation, and American leadership in space”. “Today, for the first time in half a century, the US has returned to the Moon,” Nelson said in a video posted on social media.

For the first time since the Apollo era, new NASA science instruments and tech demonstrations are operating on the Moon after @Int_Machines‘ Odysseus lander arrived on the lunar surface: https://t.co/l1VaQujvOZ

The IM-1 mission team expects to receive images in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/CZZXLG43C1
— NASA (@NASA) February 24, 2024

“Today for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company, an American company, launched and led the voyage up there. And today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA’s commercial partnerships,” he said.

Intuitive Machines has become the first privately owned company to execute a successful lunar landing. Another U.S.-based privately owned space firm, Astrobotic Technology tried to land its robotic lunar vehicle on the moon’s surface last month, however, the mission ended when the lander crashed back into the Earth.

The last time a U.S. spacecraft landed on the moon was in 1972 when Apollo 17 brought astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt to the lunar surface. Only four countries apart from the US have successfully landed on the moon. The list includes the Soviet Union, Japan, China, and India.

A camera aboard Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines lunar lander, captured this image of Moon — ^{A camera aboard Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines lunar lander, captured this image of the Bel’kovich K crater in the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands before it landed in the lunar’s southern polar region on Thursday, February 22, 2024. (Image Credit: Intuitive Machines)}

Odysseus moon lander

Odysseus, nicknamed “Odie,” is a robotic lunar vehicle designed to transport small “payloads” to the moon’s surface. Its latest mission involves investigating the environment at one of the moon’s poles, NASA provided $118 million in funding to Intuitive Machines under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to execute the project.

Odysseus was launched from Florida on February 15 using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The hexagon-shaped craft landed on the moon equipped with five NASA payloads and one commercial one, weighing a total of 100 kilograms.

The moon lander NASA’s scientific instruments, including cameras and a device for clouds of charged dust particles as well as cargo shipped on behalf of private clients. The lunar lander is carrying an insulating jacket fabric produced by Columbia Sportswear.

NASA’s lunar cargo includes various equipment related to lunar exploration. According to a statement from the space agency, “The NASA payloads will concentrate on showcasing communication, navigation, and precision landing technologies, as well as collecting scientific data on rocket plume and lunar surface interactions. Additionally, they will study space weather and lunar surface impacts affecting radio astronomy.”