For the first time in more than 50 years! The US spacecraft Odysseus successfully landed on the moon

This image provided by Intuitive Machines shows its Odysseus lunar lander on the near side of the moon after lunar orbit insertion on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. National News

Author: Duan Yuechu

The commercial space industry ushered in a historic moment as Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft successfully landed on the lunar surface on Thursday. This is the first time the United States has returned to the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, and it is also the world's first private company to achieve a soft landing on the moon.

The landing of the Odysseus spacecraft in the South Pole region marked the first time a human spacecraft has approached the lunar South Pole. The spacecraft was scheduled to perform a seven-day mission on the lunar surface until the sun set and the extreme cold conditions made it impossible for the spacecraft to continue operating.

During the landing, Intuitive Machines faced a thorny navigation problem that forced Odysseus to rely on experimental technology on board the spacecraft to make the landing. The tension of the process was amplified until the news of a successful landing was finally announced.

The Odysseus spacecraft carries six scientific instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA, the primary customer of the mission. These demonstrations focus on a variety of areas, including plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and communications and navigation nodes for future autonomous navigation technologies.

The success of this landing not only demonstrates Intuitive Machines' strength in the field of commercial aerospace, but also lays the foundation for NASA to achieve its goal of sending astronauts to orbit the moon again in 2024 and landing on the lunar surface again in 2026. The United States has become one of the five countries to achieve a soft landing on the moon, and is still the only country to successfully land astronauts on the lunar surface.

However, NASA's moon landing plan has not been smooth sailing. The Government Accountability Office has stated that given the current work progress and the complexity of the remaining tasks, the moon landing may be postponed to 2027. Despite this, Intuitive Machines' successful landing has injected new vitality into the commercial aerospace field and stimulated human enthusiasm for exploring the universe.

As private companies continue to explore the aerospace field, the landscape of lunar and space exploration may change dramatically in the future. The success of Intuitive Machines has undoubtedly opened up new possibilities for the commercial aerospace field and added a new chapter to the human journey of space exploration.

References:
Intuitive Machines' Lunar Lander Odysseus Lands on the Moon | National News | US News

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-02-22/intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-odysseus-lands-on-the-moon