A Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines, achieved a historic milestone by landing its spacecraft, Odysseus, near the moon’s south pole. This marks the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in over 50 years and the first-ever accomplishment by a private company.
NASA, which had various research instruments on board, celebrated the landing as a significant step toward its goal of sending commercially flown spacecraft on scientific missions to the moon. This initiative aims to precede the planned return of astronauts to the moon later this decade
Despite the success, there were initial communication issues, raising concerns about potential impairments or obstructions. The uncrewed robot lander faced challenges during its final approach and descent, including problems with the autonomous navigation system. Engineers had to employ an untested workaround at the last minute.
Following the landing at approximately 6:23 p.m. EST, there was a radio blackout, and re-establishing communication took some time. When contact was finally restored, the signal was faint, leaving mission control uncertain about the exact condition and orientation of the vehicle.
However, the Intuitive Machines mission director, Tim Crain, confirmed that the equipment was on the moon’s surface and transmitting data. Later in the evening, the company shared on the social media platform X that Odysseus is upright and actively sending data, marking a successful mission.
(Inputs from Reuters)