In a stunning feat of engineering and innovation, a US company has achieved what no other commercial entity has done before: landing a spacecraft on the Moon. Intuitive Machines, based in Houston, Texas, successfully touched down its Odysseus robot near the lunar south pole on February 23, 2024, breaking the US’s 50-year absence from the Moon’s surface.
The historic landing was not without challenges, however. The spacecraft’s ranging lasers, which were supposed to measure its altitude and speed, malfunctioned before the descent began. Luckily, the team was able to switch to some experimental lasers from Nasa, which had purchased space on Odysseus for six scientific instruments.
After a tense wait, the controllers received a faint signal from the robot, confirming that it had reached the Moon. “What we can confirm, without a doubt, is our equipment is on the surface of the Moon and we are transmitting,” flight director Tim Crain announced, as the staff at Intuitive Machines erupted in cheers and applause.
The landing site was a cratered terrain next to a 5km-high mountain complex known as Malapert, the southernmost point on the Moon ever visited by a spacecraft. This region is of great interest to scientists and explorers, as it contains some deep craters that never see any sunlight and may harbor frozen water.
Nasa’s administrator Bill Nelson congratulated Intuitive Machines for a mission he described as a “triumph”. “The US has returned to the Moon,” he said. “Today, for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company – an American company – launched and led the voyage up there. And today is the day that shows the power and promise of Nasa’s commercial partnerships.”
Odysseus will now begin its scientific and technological activities on the lunar surface, including deploying a student camera system from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which took selfie images as the robot set itself down. It will also investigate the behavior of lunar dust, which was a major nuisance for the Apollo astronauts, and test the feasibility of using lunar resources for future missions.
Intuitive Machines is one of several companies that have contracts with Nasa to deliver payloads to the Moon as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The program aims to support the development of a sustainable presence on the Moon and pave the way for human exploration under the Artemis program.
The successful landing of Odysseus marks a new era of lunar exploration and commerce, as well as a proud moment for the US space industry and the nation as a whole. As Crain put it, “This is a huge accomplishment for Intuitive Machines, for Nasa, for America, and for the world.”
