The Odysseus spacecraft made by Houston-based Intuitive Machines has efficiently landed on the floor of the moon. It marks the primary time a spacecraft from a personal firm has landed on the lunar floor, and it’s the primary US-made craft to succeed in the moon because the Apollo missions.
Odysseus was carrying NASA devices, which the area company stated can be used to assist put together for future crewed missions to the moon underneath the Artemis program. NASA confirmed the touchdown occurred at 6:23 PM ET on February 22. The lander launched from Earth on February 15, with the assistance of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
In response to The New York Occasions, there have been some “technical points with the flight” that delayed the touchdown for a few hours. Intuitive Machines CTO Tim Crain informed the paper that “Odysseus is unquestionably on the moon and working but it surely stays to be seen whether or not the mission can obtain its targets.” Odysseus has a restricted window of a few week to ship knowledge again right down to Earth earlier than darkness units in and makes the solar-powered craft inoperable.
Intuitive Machines wasn’t the primary personal firm to try a touchdown. Astrobotic made an try final month with its Peregrine lander, however was unsuccessful. Intuitive Machines is planning to launch two different lunar landers this 12 months.