 "First image of US spacecraft Odysseus' landing spot on Moon viral: See pic")
US commercial spacecraft 'Odysseus' charted history by becoming the first private lander to ace Moon landing last Thursday. The lander, owned by private company Intuitive Machines, put America on the Moon after more than 50 years, giving boost to the country's renewed aspirations to start lunar missions again.
The Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C, known as Odysseus, touched down on the Moon at 23:23:53 UTC on February 22, images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team have confirmed.
Odysseus landing site 'Malapart A'
"Odysseus completed its landing at 80.13ºS and 1.44ºE at a 2579 m elevation. After travelling more than 600,000 miles, Odysseus landed within 1.5 km of its intended Malapert A landing site," the Intuitive Machines said in a post on Monday on the social media platform 'X' and shared images.
Following the landing, the company said in a press briefing on Friday that the lander has "quite a bit of operational capability." The statement followed as concerns were raised that Odysseus probably tipped while landing and ended up on its side instead of landing upright.
Lander communicating with ground controllers
The company's latest update revealed that the lander is able to communicate with flight controllers. "After understanding the end-to-end communication requirements, Odysseus sent images from the lunar surface of its vertical descent to its Malapert A landing site, representing the furthest south any vehicle has been able to land on the Moon and establish communication with ground controllers," Intuitive Machines said.
Odysseus carries a range of scientific and technological payloads of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) as well as other commercial customers and aims to send back data for better understanding of the Moon's atmosphere, its surface and other aspects.
Odysseus expected to communicate till Tuesday
The mission was intially designed to last seven days since the intended landing, however, the tipping has cut short its life. "Flight controllers intend to collect data until the lander's solar panels are no longer exposed to light. Based on Earth and Moon positioning, we believe flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning," the company noted.
The spacecraft was launched on February 15, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IM-1 mission is Intuitive Machines' first mission through Nasa's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The project is aimed at collaborating with US private organisations to foster the lunar economy.