Odysseus has departed on a perilous journey that is larger-than-life. No, we are not talking about the mythological hero Ulysses from the immortal Odyssey and Iliad – but the new American spacecraft that is embarking in a mission that is every bit as fantastic.
We are talking about a solar-powered lunar lander lifted off from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to become the first private spacecraft to achieve a controlled moon landing.
The Guardian reported:
“Odysseus, the working name for the uncrewed Nova-C lander built by the Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines, lit up the skies above Cape Canaveral shortly after 1am on a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
Its scheduled 22 February touchdown near the moon’s south pole would be the first lunar landing of a US spacecraft since Nasa’s final Apollo mission in December 1972, and the first by a non-government entity. It will deliver a suite of scientific equipment belonging to the agency that will gather data about the lunar environment to help prepare for the next landing of US astronauts, the Artemis III mission currently scheduled for 2026.”
The IM-1 launch to the Moon successfully lifted off Feb. 15 on @SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. @Int_Machines’ Nova-C lander is expected to reach the lunar surface on Feb. 22: https://t.co/7Y8I2V9QSQ pic.twitter.com/EuOcLaPciV
— NASA (@NASA) February 15, 2024
Intuitive Machines, owned by a former Nasa’s director of engineering, invested about $130m into the IM-1 mission, with Nasa funding a further $118m to get it off the ground.
Odysseus will undertake a 240,000-mile, weeklong journey to the moon.
“The lander is a 14ft (4.3 meter) hexagon-shaped craft with six legs, and is aimed towards a landing at crater Malapert A close to the lunar south pole. Nasa is targeting the craggy area for the first Artemis landing, believing it rich in frozen water that could help sustain a permanent lunar base crucial to future human missions to Mars.
Odysseus is carrying a payload of six Nasa science instruments and technology demonstrations as part of the agency’s commercial lunar payload services initiative tied to its Artemis program.”
The mission’s instruments will study space weather effects on the lunar surface, and a network of markers for communication and navigation will be deployed on Earth’s satellite.
“’Nasa scientific instruments are on their way to the moon, a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century’, the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, said. ‘These daring moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis generation’.”
Futurism reported:
“If successful, the Odysseus lander will be both the first private lunar lander in history to make safe landfall on the surface of the Moon and the first American craft to touch down there since the Apollo 17 mission in late 1972 — with the operative word here being ‘if’.”
Read: OH, NO: Japanese SLIM Lunar Lander Is Upside Down on the Moon Surface!
Only two of the five landers that attempted lunar touchdowns last year where successful — and the Japanese one landed upside down.
“As NASA continues to push back the launch dates of its own Artemis lunar mission — due, ironically, to issues related to SpaceX — which will eventually see human boots on the Moon for the first time in more than half a century, the viability of these incredibly expensive missions becomes all the more important.
With its 11 payloads — six from NASA and five from commercial clients — there’s clearly a lot riding on Odysseus. As such, the folks at Intuitive Machines are publicly optimistic about the lander’s chances.”
Like an arrow from Cupid’s bow, the next commercial lunar delivery wings its way to the Moon. Six of our science and technology instruments are headed for the lunar southern highlands. https://t.co/qLOxwk7jqh pic.twitter.com/nun0MmN9Pv
— NASA (@NASA) February 15, 2024
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