Back in February 14th, I wrote here on TGP: “Odysseus has departed on a perilous journey that is larger-than-life. No, we are not talking about the mythological hero Ulysses from the immortal Odyssey and Iliad – but the new American spacecraft that is embarking in a mission that is every bit as fantastic.”
Tonight we can say: TOUCHDOWN. America is back on the moon after half a century.
NBC News reported:
“A robotic spacecraft made history Thursday becoming the first privately built craft to touch down on the lunar surface, as well as the first American vehicle to accomplish the feat in more than 50 years.
The lander, built by Intuitive Machines, touched down on the lunar surface at around 6:23 p.m. ET, overcoming a late-stage glitch with its onboard laser instruments. The probe is now the first American spacecraft on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.”
Nova-C lander, a.k.a. Odysseus, was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and spent six days in a 620,000 mile journey to the Earth satellite, the moon.
The landing time had to be adjusted several times Thursday as Intuitive Machines corrected the spacecraft’s orbit around the moon.
“As it descended to the lunar surface, Odysseus targeted a landing site near a crater called Malapert A, close to the moon’s south pole. The moon’s south polar region has long been tantalizing for scientists because water ice is thought to be relatively abundant in the region’s permanently shadowed craters.
Odysseus is carrying a mix of commercial cargo and NASA science instruments on its journey. The lander is expected to spend about a week collecting data on the moon before lunar night sets in and the probe loses power.”
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 Nova-C mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, set up ‘to support development of moon landers by private-sector companies’.
“NASA plans to hire these companies to transport cargo and scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s broader ambitions to return astronauts to the moon.”
NASA awarded Intuitive Machines $118 million to carry out the moon successful and historic landing.
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