First moon landing by the US in 50 years
The first American landing on the moon in nearly 50 years and the first by a private firm, Intuitive Machines, is a Texas-based corporation whose spacecraft made a landing close to the moon’s south pole on Thursday.
The landing was welcomed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), which saw it as a major step toward its goal of sending a number of commercial spacecraft on moon reconnaissance missions before humans are anticipated to return later this decade.
Initial contact problems after Thursday’s arrival raised questions about whether the six-legged, unmanned robot lander known as Odysseus had been damaged or blocked in any way.
After an exciting final approach and descent, during which a problem with the spacecraft’s autonomous navigation system developed, the touchdown was accomplished.
Moreover, it required some time to get in touch with the spacecraft once more and find out what happened to it after an anticipated radio blackout that happened at 239,000 miles from Earth.
According to the webcast, when communication was eventually established again, the signal was weak, indicating that the lander had indeed touched down but leaving mission control instantly unsure of the exact state and position of the vehicle.
Tim Crain, the director of Intuitive Machines Mission, was overheard saying to the operations center, “We are transmitting from the moon, and our equipment is on its surface. Congratulations, IM team.”
“We’ll see what more we can get from that.”
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