For the first time in 50 years, a US spacecraft has landed on the moon. Houston-based Intuitive Machines landed its Odysseus craft in the Malapert A crater, about 300 kilometers from the moon’s south pole.
Historic for a number of reasons, it’s the first of many new moon landings that we can expect in the next year, leading up to NASA’s manned moon mission in 2025-2026, where humans may actually start a permanent presence on the lunar surface.
Read more on The NY Times to learn about this historic mission.
Actual image of the lander on the surface of the moon.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson added during the webcast: “Today for the first time in more than a half-century, the US has returned to the moon.”
“Today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA’s commercial partnerships,” he added. “Congratulations to everyone involved in this great and daring quest.”
Renderings of the lander making a soft landing on the surface of the moon.
“After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data,” Intuitive Machines said in a statement. “Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.”
The landing site was a flat area near the Malapert A crater, about 185 miles north of the moon’s south pole. The moon’s polar regions have attracted much interest in recent years because of water ice hidden in the shadows of craters there.
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