Intuitive Machines' Odysseus moon lander, nicknamed "Odie," successfully touched down on the lunar surface, marking a major milestone in the spacecraft's cosmic journey.
The company's Nova-C Odysseus lander spent a week in transit to the moon before coming to a gentle rest in Malapert A Crater in the lunar south pole region. Here is a timeline of NASA's first soft landing on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Before the Launch
Prior to the launch of the spacecraft, the chief executive of Intuitive Machines, Steve Altemus, said during an interview that he hoped NASA would persevere with the moon-on-a-budget mindset even if Odie crashes.
He added that this was the only way to really go forward with space endeavors, adding that that is what the experiment is supposed to do. Odie then launched on Feb. 15 aboard a SpaceX rocket and it was pulled into lunar orbit on Wednesday.
Trouble in Transit
After the moon lander entered lunar orbit, the company said that it was expected to reach the moon's surface at around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. In the morning of the expected touchdown, Intuitive Machines said that Odie had moved to a higher altitude and would land at 4:24 p.m., as per the New York Times.
Then once more, the landing time changed on Thursday afternoon, with Intuitive Machines saying that an extra lap around the moon was needed before the 6:24 p.m. landing attempt. A spokesman for the company said that a laser instrument on the spacecraft that was responsible for providing data on its altitude and velocity was not working properly.
The extra orbit had provided two hours for changes in the moon lander's software to substitute a different, experimental laser instrument to be used. This one was one that the American space agency had provided.
Landing on the Lunar Surface
At around 6:11 p.m., Odie fired its engine to start its powered descent to the moon's surface and the laser instrument appeared to serve as a suitable alternative. Furthermore, everything else seemed to be working fine until the spacecraft went silent for several minutes.
The chief technology officer of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain, then reported that a faint signal from the spacecraft was detected. Shortly after, he announced that they were able to confirm, without a doubt, that Odie was on the surface of the moon and was transmitting.
After the Landing
Following the successful landing, the spacecraft has a busy week ahead and comes as Intuitive Machines is set to send another Nova-C lander no earlier than June 2024. It would include NASA's Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) as well as The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) that comes with a meter-long drill, according to Sky and Telescope.
Odies' lunar landing made history by becoming the first private spacecraft to successfully land on the moon's surface. It also marks a huge feat for the space exploration company and many believe that the success of the mission will open more opportunities to future private missions to the moon, said The Standard.
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