February 22, 2024

— The United States is back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo astronauts set foot there more than 50 years ago.

What's more, the vehicle that achieved the feat is now the world's first commercial spacecraft to land on a celestial body other than Earth.

"Odysseus," Intuitive Machines' first Nova-C lander, touched down on Thursday (Feb. 22), seven days after launching from Earth. The six-legged robotic probe landed at 5:24 p.m. CST (2324 GMT) in the vicinity of Malapert A, a 43-mile-wide (69-km) crater located about 186 miles (300 km) from the moon's south pole.

"Houston, Odysseus has found its new home," said Tim Crain, IM-1 mission director and chief technology officer at Intuitive Machines, after receiving a faint but detectable signal from the lunar lander. "We are evaluating how we can refine that signal and dial in the pointing for our dishes, but what we can confirm without a doubt is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting."

Update: Data analysis indicates that Odysseus tipped over and is perched at an angle. The spacecraft is in contact with Earth and its orientation is not preventing the IM-1 payloads from operating.

Although Odysseus (or "Odie" for short) is privately operated and outfitted with commercial cargo, its IM-1 landing site was chosen by NASA. The agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) effort contracted Intuitive Machines to deliver six science instruments to the lunar south pole region.

"Today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA's commercial partnerships," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Odysseus has taken the moon. This feat is a giant leap forward for all of humanity."

The data returned by IM-1 will help support NASA's Artemis program, which has selected the moon's south pole as the site for returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Water ice trapped in the permanently shadowed craters will help create a sustainable presence, where astronauts can prepare for future missions to Mars.

Malapert Massif, located near Odysseus' landing site, is one of the 13 candidate regions being considered for the Artemis III mission in 2025.

Intuitive Machines-1 lunar landing. Click to enlarge video in new pop-up window. (NASA)

Odysseus arrived in lunar orbit on Wednesday, following a burn by its cryogenic engine that slowed the spacecraft and started it circling the moon at 57 miles (92 km) altitude. The landing on Thursday took about an hour to complete, including an 11-minute powered descent.

The lander was originally to use its terrain relative navigation cameras and laser rangefinders to help guide Odysseus through its approach, but a problem with the lasers resulted in a switch to using one of NASA's on board CLPS payloads, a navigation doppler lidar sensor system flown as a technology demo. At about 100 feet (30 m) above the targeted site, an inertial measurement unit helped keep the vehicle upright as it made a soft landing.

Odysseus' VR900 engine continuously burned throughout the powered descent, similar to how the Apollo lunar module landed. This was the first time, however, that a cryogenic engine (in this case fed by liquid methane and liquid oxygen) was used to reach the lunar surface.

Just before landing, Odysseus ejected one of its privately-booked payloads, a camera system designed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida called EagleCam that, if successful, captured the first-ever, third-person image of a spacecraft making a landing on a celestial body other than Earth. EagleCam will also test an electrostatic dust-removal system that could lead to future advances in spacesuit technology.

Other commercially-booked payloads on Odysseus include ILOA Hawai'i's ILO-X, a miniaturized dual-camera lunar imaging suite that is aimed at capturing some of the first images of the center of the Milky Way from the surface of the moon, and a demonstration by Lonestar Data Holdings that will store customers' documents aboard the Nova-C lander and be able to both upload and download documents to and from Earth and the moon.

Galactic Legacy Labs' Lunaprise holds messages on NanoFiche discs as an archive of "The Humanity Hall of Fame," showing future civilizations how we lived, and noted artist Jeff Koons has sent 125 miniature moons as a part of a project titled "Jeff Koons: Moon Phases."

The 14-foot by 5-foot (4.3-by-1.6-m) IM-1 lander is also outfitted with Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity technology to insulate Odysseus' propulsion fuel tank. The commercial off-the-shelf material, which can also be found as the lining of Columbia's cold-weather apparel, was borne out of the blankets that protected the Apollo spacecraft.

NASA's instruments include a radio receiver to measure the plasma environment that will be encountered by future Artemis astronauts, as well as provide a baseline for radio astronomy systems; and a collection of laser retro-reflectors, similar to the type left by the Apollo astronauts to measure precise distances.

NASA also flew cameras to analyze the effects of the lander's plume on the lunar surface and a beacon to demonstrate autonomous spacecraft positioning.

Odysseus' IM-1 mission is anticipated to operate on the lunar surface for about a week before night sets on the moon's south pole, rendering the lander inoperable.

IM-1 is the 151st attempt at a moon mission since 1958, including flybys, orbiters, impactors and landers. Odysseus is the 26th lander to successfully touch down on the lunar surface.