American private lunar lander successfully landed on Moon
Photo: Lunar Module Odysseus (twitter.com/NASA)
The private lunar lander named Odysseus, manufactured by Intuitive Machines Inc. in the United States, has successfully reached the Moon and landed, according to Bloomberg.
The spacecraft from the Houston-based startup successfully landed on the Moon on Thursday, making it the first private space vehicle to land on the lunar surface intact.
The landing took place at 18:23 Eastern Time, but there was a brief communication interruption earlier, making the precise status of the spacecraft unclear.
"Today for the first time in more than a half century, the US has returned to the moon. Today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA’s commercial partnerships," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a webcast."
LIVE NOW: NASA science is landing on the Moon aboard @Int_Machines’ uncrewed Nova-C lander, named Odysseus.
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024
This is the first time an American commercial lunar lander has made it to orbit around the Moon. https://t.co/Tosd9y9yxi
This marks the first instance of an American spacecraft arriving there intact since 1972 when NASA conducted the Apollo program.
Your order was delivered… to the Moon! @Int_Machines' uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon's surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis. pic.twitter.com/sS0poiWxrU
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024
The source notes that this success puts an end to a series of failures by private groups attempting lunar landings and is "a promising sign for Intuitive's goal of creating a business transporting valuable cargo and conducting experiments there."
Indeed, the landing provides an opportunity to closely examine the area near the lunar South Pole, offering NASA new information as there are plans for human landings on the Moon's surface in the future.
The launch of the lunar lander module Nova-C, named Odysseus, took place on February 15 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo: NASA / Kim Shiflett)
US Moon mission
On January 8, for the first time in over 50 years, the United States launched a rocket with the aim of delivering a lunar lander. However, it became known that the launched lunar lander module, Peregrine, encountered technical issues.
Earlier, we reported that the US plans to return to the Moon for the first time since 1972.
