Future Timeline

(IFL Science) "What we can confirm, without a doubt, is our equipment is on the surface of the Moon and we are transmitting." Those were the words from flight director Tim Crain yesterday, as private company Intuitive Machines confirmed its lander Odysseus successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making history in the process.

It marks the first time since 1972 that the US has landed on the Moon and it’s also the first time ever that a private company has put a spacecraft there. But making history is never simple; Odysseus’ ranging lasers, which help to determine its altitude and velocity, decided it was a great time to take a break and stopped working properly.

Experimental lasers from NASA ended up saving the day, and Odysseus landed at 6:23 pm EST (11:23 pm UTC) near Malapert A, a crater close to the Moon’s south pole. However, it wasn’t over yet – the robot wasn’t sending out any signals. That quiet spell soon broke, however, and a few hours later, communications were well up and running with data and pictures aplenty.

"The US has returned to the Moon," said NASA administrator Bill Nelson in an agency broadcast of the landing. "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, playfully nicknamed “Odie”, is carrying a number of NASA payloads amongst some from other private companies and research institutions. It’s hoped that it will provide vital information about the lunar south pole, because of the presence of water ice – which could come in pretty handy if we ever decide to live on the Moon.

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Intuitive Machines had a big win last week when it became the first private company to conduct a soft landing on the Moon. The win could have been bigger, though. While the Odysseus lander did reach the surface intact, it tipped over and is currently lying on its side. The company has an update on the lander's status—this historic mission is coming to an end. Odysseus has beamed science data back home, but it will probably run out of power in mere hours.

Odysseus (AKA the IM-1 mission) defied the odds by reaching the lunar surface. The vehicle's navigation lasers were never switched on before launch, something Intuitive Machines did not realize until Odysseus was already orbiting the Moon. Luckily, one of its NASA science payloads was a prototype laser navigation system. The team switched over to the NASA system, and it guided the vehicle down within a mile or so of its target. That's solid accuracy for any landing on a celestial body.