U.S. lands unmanned Odysseus spacecraft on moon

[LiveLife]

And we are back on the moon - https://www.yahoo.com/news/watch-li...s-odysseus-houston-apollo-nasa-164032673.html

An unmanned, robotic lunar lander launched by a private U.S. company landed on the moon Thursday evening. "We can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the moon," said Stephen Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based company that operated the Odysseus spacecraft. "Welcome to the moon."​

Video of Earth from lunar lander on its way to the moon

 

[theotherwaldo]

It's about freakin' time!

 

[LiveLife]

How Intuitive Machines Nova C Landed on the Moon

What makes this Nova-C Lunar Lander so special? The Nova-C is the first spacecraft of its kind powered by cryogenic propellants consisting of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Once the Lunar lander completes its journey and softly lands on the Moon, it will mark the first privately-led mission to do so. Lastly, this presents an opportunity for the United States to softly touch down on the Moon's surface since the last Apollo mission in the year 1972. The Intuitive Machines lunar lander boasts dimensions of four meters in length, 1.57 meters in width, and a lift-off mass of 4,200-pound, Measuring it's six standing legs.​

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[LiveLife]

Why do we see an increased number of lunar missions targeting the moon's south pole? (Water! Water! )

The Odysseus mission marks the first controlled descent to the moon's surface by a US spaceship since Apollo 17 in 1972. The company behind the mission said flight controllers received a weak signal from the moon lander.​

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The six-legged robotic lander, dubbed Odysseus, targeted the Malapert A crater near the moon's south pole. Odysseus carries a suite of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA and several commercial customers and is designed to operate on solar power for seven days before the sun sets over the polar landing site.​

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The NASA payload will focus on collecting data on space weather interactions with the lunar surface, radio astronomy and other aspects of the lunar environment for future landers and NASA's planned return of astronauts later this decade. Odyssey to the moon​

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Odysseus launched on February 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft boasts a new type of supercooled liquid oxygen, liquid methane propulsion system that allows it to race through space in quick time.​

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[theotherwaldo]

-So, when is Elon going to start mining Psyche so that he can finance the rest of his projects?

 

[LiveLife]

At least Space X proved their rocket design and fuel system worked.

Next stop, Mars.

 

[theotherwaldo]

BTW, I'm about an hour's drive from the Boca Chica Space-x launch site... .

 

[LiveLife]

Apparently lander tipped over during landing with solar panels away from the sun to recharge batteries to become inoperable soon.

I say good first attempt by the private sector?

Odysseus sends back first images before expected demise - The unmanned Odysseus lunar lander has sent back its first pictures that confirm it landed within a mile of its target, a crater near the moon’s south pole. The privately built spacecraft is expected go dark soon after it tipped onto its side, blocking solar panels and rendering it incapable of recharging its batteries.