Privately built lunar lander makes history with successful moon touchdown

A historic moment unfolded on Thursday as a robotic spacecraft achieved a monumental feat, marking both the first privately built craft and the first American vehicle in over 50 years to land on the lunar surface.

Crafted by Intuitive Machines, the lander, named Odysseus, successfully touched down on the lunar terrain at approximately 6:23 p.m. ET, despite encountering a late-stage glitch with its onboard laser instruments. This achievement marks a significant milestone, making Odysseus the first American spacecraft to grace the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

"Houston, Odysseus has found its new home," relayed Tim Crain, the company's Chief Technology Officer, amidst jubilant celebrations at mission control.

Confirmation of the landing took several suspenseful minutes. During the final descent, contact with the spacecraft was temporarily lost, as anticipated. Although a faint signal was detected from one of Odysseus’ antennas, further data is required to ascertain its exact landing location and orientation. Efforts are underway to refine the signal and gather more information about the spacecraft's condition.

Stephen Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, lauded the collective effort, labeling it an "outstanding achievement." He remarked, "I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface and transmitting. Welcome to the moon!"

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also extended congratulations, hailing the milestone as a "triumph" for humanity.

Odysseus commenced its journey into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 15th. After traversing over 620,000 miles over six days, the 14-foot-tall lander reached its lunar destination.

The landing time underwent multiple adjustments on Thursday as Intuitive Machines fine-tuned the spacecraft's orbit around the moon. Odysseus aimed for a landing site near Malapert A crater, situated close to the moon’s south pole—a region of scientific interest due to the presumed abundance of water ice in its shadowed craters.

Loaded with a blend of commercial cargo and NASA science instruments, Odysseus is slated to collect data on the moon for approximately a week before lunar nightfall dims its power supply.

An hour before touchdown, efforts were underway to resolve issues with the laser instruments meant to assess lunar terrain for a safe landing spot. While the laser rangefinders were non-operational, sensors from one of NASA's science instruments onboard were repurposed as a solution.

This mission is a part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, aimed at fostering the development of moon landers by private companies. Ultimately, NASA plans to engage these companies to ferry cargo and scientific gear to the lunar surface as part of its broader initiative to return astronauts to the moon.

For this lunar endeavor, NASA granted Intuitive Machines $118 million.

Notably, last month, another company under the same NASA program attempted a lunar landing but faced failure. Astrobotic Technology's lander, post-launch, encountered a crippling malfunction, prompting the cancellation of the mission.

Odysseus not only marks a historic milestone as the first commercial craft on the moon but also joins an exclusive league, previously accessed only by the space agencies of the United States, the former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan, which have achieved controlled or "soft" landings on the lunar surface.