Miami, US, Feb 15 (EFE).- The Odysseus moon lander aboard Space X Falcon 9 rocket successfully took off on Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in what is expected to be the first American moon landing in over 50 years.
The lander, built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, was launched at 1:05 am and is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on Feb. 22.
The takeoff was initially scheduled for Wednesday but got delayed due to a temperature issue with the spacecraft’s liquid methane fuel.
With Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines seeks to make the first commercial effort to land a probe on the lunar surface.
The mission aims to deliver a variety of payloads, including scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar south pole region, the private firm said.
Odysseus carries six NASA payloads that would conduct several experiments to understand the Moon’s environment.
“Like an arrow from Cupid’s bow, the next commercial lunar delivery wings its way to the Moon. Six of our science and technology instruments are headed for the lunar southern highlands,” NASA said on X.
“The payloads will collect data on how the plume of engine gasses interacts with the Moon’s surface (…) investigate radio astronomy and space weather interactions (…) test precision landing technologies,” the US space agency said.
Once in orbit, the lander, equipped with a propulsion system powered by a mixture of oxygen and methane, separates from the rocket and carries forward to the Moon.
After landing, Odysseus and the payloads on it are expected to operate for roughly seven days before the lunar night sets on the south pole of the Moon, leaving the lander inoperable.
The spacecraft, which also carries scientific instruments from other private firms, will land near the Malapert A crater, about 300 km from the south pole, an area full of uncertainty according to NASA experts.
This is the second mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, where private companies can bid on delivering NASA payloads to the Moon.
In January, the Peregrine lunar module built by Astrobotic Technology, also carrying NASA’s instruments, failed to land on the Moon due to propellant loss from a fuel leak.
The Intuitive Machines is among the 14 vendors to carry NASA payloads to the Moon through the CLPS initiative, the agency said.
“Through CLPS, NASA aims to gain new insights into the lunar environment and expand the lunar economy to future crewed missions.”
The data and insights gleaned from the current mission will “potentially address the challenges of living and working on the Moon, thus furthering humanity’s dream of becoming a multi-planetary species,” the company said. EFE
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