The commercial lunar lander Nova-C, nicknamed Odysseus, from the American company Intuitive Machines successfully landed at the south pole of the moon during the night from Thursday to Friday. The company and the American space agency NASA announced this around a quarter to one Belgian time.
It is the first – albeit unmanned – American moon landing since the Apollo missions more than fifty years ago and the first commercial landing on the moon in the history of space travel. So far, only government organizations have succeeded.
“We can confirm that our equipment is on the surface of the moon, and that a signal is being transmitted,” an Intuitive Machines official said during the company’s livestream. The control center said only weak signals were initially received. Two hours later, after some communications issues had been resolved, it was confirmed that the lander was upright and beginning to transmit data. “The first images of the moon’s surface are being downloaded,” Intuitive Machines said in a statement.
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The lunar lander Odysseus left its journey from the famous Cape Canaveral in the American state of Florida on February 15. The spacecraft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company.
The project is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). With this program, the space agency wants to collect as much knowledge as possible relatively cheaply and efficiently on its own path to the moon by entering into contracts with private companies and collaborating with them.
The Nova-C is about the same size as a traditional British telephone booth, has aluminum legs, weighs about 700 kilograms and can carry a load of about 130 kilograms. A large part of this constitutes NASA research material, while another part is taken up by the projects of commercial companies.
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Failed attempts
The lunar lander will conduct research at a crater on the moon. Astronauts may also be sent there in the future. The last time humans walked on the moon was about half a century ago in 1972.
Last month there was another attempt by another American company. Shortly after launch, however, a leak developed in the fuel tank of the Peregrine lunar lander, causing the spacecraft to crash on Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. In April, a Japanese commercial lander crashed while landing on the moon.
It is the first – albeit unmanned – American moon landing since the Apollo missions more than fifty years ago, and the first commercial landing on the moon in the history of space travel. So far, only government organizations have succeeded.
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