After over five decades, an American spacecraft has successfully landed on the moon.
Named Odysseus, the lander was developed by Houston's Intuitive Machines. Shortly after initiating its descent at 6:11 p.m. Eastern time, Odysseus successfully landed, marking the first time a privately constructed spacecraft has made a one-piece landing on the moon.
With the spacecraft now on the lunar surface and sending signals back to Earth, Tim Crain, the mission director and chief technology officer at Intuitive Machines, expressed uncertainty regarding the spacecraft's ability to fulfill its mission objectives.
The Odysseus lunar lander, nicknamed "Odie" or IM-1, is on the moon's surface and transmitting, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just announced on the webcast.
"I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting," Altemus said. "Welcome to the moon."
It took several minutes to confirm the landing. As the spacecraft made its final descent, mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft, as was expected to occur.
Altemus assessed the likelihood of Odysseus successfully reaching the moon at 80%, attributing this confidence to the lessons learned from past failures. "We've built upon the foundation laid by all those who've attempted this before," Altemus remarked.
This mission marked the first time an American spacecraft had touched down on the moon since Apollo 17's journey in 1972, and it was also the inaugural soft landing by a private spacecraft on the lunar surface.
Despite being a private venture, the mission received significant support from NASA, which contracted Intuitive Machines for $118 million to transport six scientific instruments to the moon. Additionally, the U.S. space agency facilitated live coverage of the spacecraft's landing.
