For the first time in 51 years, a spacecraft has successfully landed on the Moon. This milestone is also the first time a commercial lander has reached the lunar surface.
Odysseus Spacecraft Lands on Moon
On Thursday, Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft landed on the Moon. This is a huge step forward for the plan of NASA to eventually bring astronauts back to Earth's closest cosmic neighbor.
While the spacecraft's orientation and state remain unclear, the lunar landing is considered a milestone for the rising commercial space field.
After several minutes wherein ground controllers were not sure about the spacecraft's health, officials of the company declared that Odysseus had successfully landed and was communicating with the Earth.
According to Tim Crain, the chief technology officer of Intuitive Machines, they were able to confirm undoubtedly that their equipment has reached the lunar surface and that they are transmitting.
However, it remains unclear whether the spacecraft tumbled or remained upright. As the crew was waiting to get news from the craft, Crain shared to his team that things were not dead yet, all while wondering if the landing was done at an off angle.
Nevertheless, the craft has successfully reached the surface, and transmissions are ongoing.
With this momentous milestone, the White House Office of Science and Technology has extended its congratulations.
Go Odysseus! We’re over the moon about the U.S.’ first lunar landing since 1972!
— White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (@WHOSTP) February 22, 2024
Congrats to @Int_Machines and @NASA's CLPS!
As @POTUS says, "With science, hope, and vision, there's not a damn thing we can't do as a country."
Welcome to the moon. https://t.co/J6K38We5wW
Historic Moon Landing
The landing happened at 6:23 ET close to the lunar south pole. This was after the Odysseus craft embarked on a week-long flight that went excellently from the moment it launched.
However, as Odysseus was getting ready to descend to the lunar surface, ground controllers observed that lasers initially meant to determine horizontal velocity and altitude were not working. These data points were key for the lander to softly and autonomously land on the lunar surface. With this observation, they ordered Odysseus to have an additional orbat prior to landing. They also started using a NASA Doppler LIDAR system that was initially meant to be an in-flight technology demonstration.
Prasun Desai, the deputy associate administrator of the space technology mission directorate of NASA, shares that they were not planning to use it for the mission to land. Eventually, the system became primary and crucial for providing altitude and velocity data for Odysseus to safely land.
NASA's CLPS
Odysseus is the first craft from America to achieve such a feat since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. This is also the first time a commercial lander has reached the surface of the Moon.
This feat validates the massive bet that NASA placed a couple of years ago when it launched a $2.9 billion program, known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, to hire private-sector and robotic spacecraft to bring tech instruments, science experiments, and cargo to the lunar surface.
The mission of Intuitive Machines was conducted as part of this massive program. A $118 million contract was awarded by NASA to Intuitive Machines to bring six instruments to the surface of the Moon that could pave the way for more missions under NASA's Artemis program, which aims to bring astronauts to the Moon by 2026.
Just last month, another private company, Astrobotic, tried to bring the Peregrine lander to the Moon but failed due to a propulsion issue suffered by the spacecraft.
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