Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus moon lander overcame a number of hurdles during its epic touchdown last week, including one or more broken legs. The 14-foot-tall (4.3 meters) Odysseus settled onto the gray dirt near the moon‘s south pole on Thursday (Feb. 22), pulling off the first American lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. But Odysseus’ touchdown was a bit rough. Thanks to an issue with its navigation equipment, the six-legged lander came down faster than expected, onto a patch of lunar ground that was higher in elevation than…
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Intuitive Machines’ historic moon landing builds momentum for Artemis, astronaut Tracy C. Dyson says (exclusive)
NASA sees an even brighter future for its human moon-landing program after a private robotic mission safely touched down last week. Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson says NASA‘s Artemis program, which aims to put boots on the moon as soon as 2026, is getting “momentum” from the private Intuitive Machines landing. That mission, known as IM-1, made the first soft U.S. lunar touchdown in 52 years this past Thursday (Feb. 22). “It means we can do it,” Dyson told Space.com Monday (Feb. 26) in an exclusive interview before she returns to…
Read MorePresident Biden congratulates Intuitive Machines on historic moon landing
The company that pulled off the first American moon landing in more than half a century just got a shout-out from the country’s commander in chief. U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Intuitive Machines on the historic touchdown of its Odysseus moon lander, which occurred on Thursday (Feb. 22) near the lunar south pole. The landing was “a thrilling step forward in a new era of space exploration,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House on Saturday (Feb. 24). “I congratulate the Intuitive Machines team who successfully landed Odysseus,…
Read MoreIntuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander is aiming for a crater near the moon’s south pole. Here’s why
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus mission is targeting touch down near the moon’s south pole this week for a historic lunar landing. The Nova-C lunar lander, named Odysseus, was built by the Houston-based company Intuitive Machines and launched to the moon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, known as IM-1, is scheduled to touchdown on the moon on Thursday (Feb. 22), at 5:49 p.m. EST (2249 GMT) in a region near the lunar south pole. If all goes according to…
Read MoreIntuitive Machines’ private Odysseus moon lander on track for Feb. 22 lunar landing
The voyaging Odysseus remains on course for a moon landing this week. The Odysseus moon lander, built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, completed two engine burns in deep space on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18 and is sailing on the right course through space, the company said on X. The mission lifted off on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Feb. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and all systems and science are healthy as it makes its way towards the moon. But the lander will soon…
Read MoreAustralia seeks public help to design its 1st moon rover, Roo-ver
Australia’s first lunar rover has a name — now, it needs a design. The Australian Space Agency is building a semi-autonomous rover, called “Roo-ver,” that will launch to the moon as early as 2026 in partnership with NASAs Artemis lunar program. The rover will collect samples of lunar “soil,” specifically known as regolith, from which NASA will attempt to extract oxygen — a key step toward establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon and producing rocket fuel to support future missions to Mars. Recently, Australia hosted a naming competition…
Read MorePrivate Odysseus moon lander beams home 1st photos from space
A pioneering moon lander has beamed home its first photos from the final frontier. Intuitive Machines‘ robotic Odysseus spacecraft snapped a few selfies with Earth in the background shortly after its Feb. 15 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — and we can all check them out. “Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX’s second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the moon under @NASA’s CLPS initiative,” the Houston-based company wrote Saturday…
Read MoreUruguay signs Artemis Accords for responsible space exploration
Uruguay has joined the United States’ effort to establish widespread principles to guide space exploration. Uruguay’s foreign minister Omar Paganini signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the South American country during the annual U.S.-Uruguay bilateral inter-ministerial dialogue on Feb. 15 in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency. “NASA welcomes Uruguay as the newest member of the Artemis Accords family,” Nelson said in a NASA statement. “The United States and Uruguay share a commitment to democracy and peace, and now, we expand…
Read MorePrivate ‘Odysseus’ lander heads for the moon after SpaceX launch
A pioneering private moon mission is going well so far. The robotic Odysseus moon lander, which was built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early this morning (Feb. 15) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The liftoff went smoothly, and Odysseus got up and running on its own as planned. The lander has been “successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging and radio communications contact with the company’s mission operations center in Houston,” Intuitive Machines wrote in a brief…
Read MoreSLIM lander’s precise ‘moon sniper’ tech will lend itself to future lunar missions
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Mariel Borowitz is an Associate Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the Nunn School Program on International Affairs, Science, and Technology. Japan landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the moon on Jan. 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar…
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