Half a century later and for the first time since the Apollo era, an unmanned robot from a private company funded by NASA landed on the moon.
“Today, for the 1st time in human history, a private company, an American company, made the journey to the Moon”
Your order was delivered… to the Moon! 📦@Int_Machines‘ uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon’s surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis. pic.twitter.com/sS0poiWxrU
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024
Americans plan to return to the moon within the decade.
Odysseus, built by Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company, landed on the moon on Thursday (Friday morning Greek time).
The rover landed about 250,000 miles from the moon’s south pole, although communication between the rover and crews on Earth was poor, officials said.
This image provided by Intuitive Machines shows the lunar lander of Odysseus above the near side of the moon after entering lunar orbit on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Intuitive Machines via AP)
“We’re evaluating how we can improve this signal,” said mission director Tim Crane. “But we can confirm, without doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the Moon.”
At the mission control center in Houston, the pressure was on as controllers anxiously awaited the craft’s signal, which finally responded 10 minutes later. The craft circled the moon in orbit before descending toward the cratered lunar surface in search of a smooth landing spot.
“Today, for the first time in more than half a century, the US returned to the Moon,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video. “Today, for the first time in human history, a private company, an American company, made the journey to the Moon.”
After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data.
Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 23, 2024
A previous attempt by a US company last month ended in failure. Private industry has long struggled to prove it can repeat a feat last accomplished by the US space agency NASA during the manned Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
NASA’s first manned mission is planned for 2026. China also plans to send its first crew to the Moon in 2030, ushering in a new era of space competition with Beijing replacing Moscow.
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