U.S. PRIVATE LUNAR LANDER LANDS ON MOON BUT SENDING WEAK SIGNAL

Fri 23 February 2024:

U.S. company Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander touched down on the moon Thursday, marking the first American spacecraft to land on the lunar surface in more than 50 years.

The uncrewed lander, named Odysseus, landed at the lunar South Pole at 6:23 p.m. Eastern Time, according to NASA.

Intuitive Machines also became the first private business to pull off a lunar landing, a feat achieved by only five countries.

Odysseus carries NASA science and other commercial payloads to the moon.

Intuitive Machines’ entry is the latest in a series of landing attempts by countries and private outfits looking to explore the moon and, if possible, capitalize on it. Japan scored a lunar landing last month, joining earlier triumphs by Russia, the U.S., China and India.

Despite the spotty communication, Intuitive Machines, the company that built and managed the craft, confirmed that it had landed upright. But it did not provide additional details, including whether the lander had reached its intended destination near the moon’s south pole. The company ended its live webcast soon after identifying a lone, weak signal from the lander, named Odysseus.

“We can confirm, without a doubt, our equipment is on the surface of the moon,” mission director Tim Crain reported as tension built in the company’s Houston control center.

Added Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus: “I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface and we are transmitting. Welcome to the moon.”

The landing put the U.S. back on the surface for the first time since NASA’s famed Apollo moonwalkers.

Astrobotic was among the first to relay congratulations. “An incredible achievement. We can’t wait to join you on the lunar surface in the near future,” the company said via X, formerly Twitter.

Intuitive Machines “aced the landing of a lifetime,” tweeted NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The U.S. bowed out of the lunar landscape in 1972 after NASA’s Apollo program put 12 astronauts on the surface. A Pittsburgh company, Astrobotic Technology, gave it a shot last month, but was derailed by a fuel leak that resulted in the lander plunging back through Earth’s atmosphere and burning up.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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