As of: February 14, 2024, 8:16 p.m
By: Tanja Banner
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The “Odysseus” mission could be the first successful private moon landing.
In addition to scientific payloads, there are also 125 works of art on board.
Update from February 14th, 2:30 p.m.:
The launch of a rocket with the “Odysseus” lunar lander on board has been postponed by SpaceX.
The next launch date is February 15, 2024 at 7:05 a.m. CET.
First reported February 12, 2024:
Kennedy Space Center - In recent years, several private companies have unsuccessfully attempted to land on the moon.
A notable example is the US company Astrobotic, whose land vehicle “Peregrine” burned up in the Earth's atmosphere.
Now another US company is planning to attempt a soft landing on the moon.
Intuitve Machines, the company carrying out the next attempt, has been awarded a contract by the US space agency Nasa to bring six different cargoes to the moon.
This contract is part of the CLPS program and has earned the company $118 million.
This sum was invested in the development of the lunar lander, which was named “Odysseus”.
In addition, six commercial payloads were loaded onto the Nova-C lunar lander.
The next moon landing is imminent: Intuitive Machines is bringing NASA instruments to the moon
The start of the mission to the moon is scheduled for February 14th at 6:57 a.m. (CET), Valentine's Day.
The launch site is the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A “Falcon 9” rocket from SpaceX is intended to carry “Odysseus” into space.
If it is not possible to start on that day, there are several alternative start dates.
Intuitive Machines' "Odysseus" lunar lander will be stored in SpaceX's "Falcon 9" rocket.
If the launch is successful, the moon landing should take place on February 22nd.
© SpaceX
If the launch is successful, the 675 kilogram lunar lander is expected to land on the moon on February 22nd.
The exact time of the landing is not yet known.
The planned landing site is the Malapert A crater, which is located about 300 kilometers from the moon's south pole.
This location is particularly interesting for research because large amounts of water ice are suspected to exist there.
The “Odysseus” lunar lander has six pieces of NASA equipment with it
There are six NASA experiments on board the Intuitive Machines lander.
These are intended to provide data for future lunar landings by the US Space Agency.
Among other things, “LRA”, an instrument for measuring distances on the lunar surface, is included.
LRAs consist of mirrors that can be used to guide spacecraft on the Moon.
“NDL” is another instrument designed to improve precision navigation and controlled soft landing of spacecraft.
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“SCALPSS” will observe how the lander’s engine plume behaves.
How does it interact with the lunar surface as “Ulysses” descends to the surface?
How does the dust plume settle back to the ground after the spacecraft lands?
This information is crucial for future moon landings.
Moon missions in recent years |
|
|---|---|
Chang'e 3 (China/CNSA) |
Landing with Rover Yutu in December 2013 |
Chang'e 4 (China/CNSA) |
Landing with Rover Yutu 2 in January 2019 |
Beresheet (private Israeli mission/SpaceIL) |
Crash on the moon in April 2019 |
Chandrayaan-2 (India/ISRO) |
Orbiter reached lunar orbit in August 2019, lander crashed |
Chang'e 5 (China/CNSA) |
Landing on the moon in December 2020, returning 1.7 kg of lunar rock |
Artemis 1 (USA/NASA) |
Unmanned orbit of the moon in November 2022, first test of the US spacecraft Orion, which is intended to take astronauts to the moon |
Hakuto-R (private Japanese mission) |
April 2023 crash involving Rover Rashid from the United Arab Emirates |
Chandrayaan-3 (India/ISRO) |
Landing on the moon in August 2023 |
Luna-25 (Russia/Roskosmos) |
Crash in August 2023 |
Slim (Japan/Jaxa) |
Landing in January 2024 |
Peregrine One (private US mission/Astrobotic) |
Crashed to Earth in January 2024 |
A commercial camera and 125 works of art also fly to the moon
In addition to the NASA experiments, there are also commercial cargoes on board that do not come from NASA.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, for example, is sending the “EagleCam” to the moon.
This camera will be placed approximately 30 meters above the lunar surface and will be the first to document an unmanned lunar landing from outside the lander.
The American artist Jeff Koons is also sending 125 small works of art to the moon.
Each of the 125 steel sculptures will be visible on the moon.
In addition, one sculpture will remain on earth and an NFT (Non-Fungible Token, a crypto asset) will be created.
The sculptures are intended to represent various people who have achieved significant achievements in human history.
Intuitive Machines could create the first private moon landing
To date, only five nations have achieved a soft landing on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China (2013), India (2023) and Japan (2024).
However, all three private lunar landing missions failed (see list in this article).
If Intuitive Machines is successful, it would be the first private company to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
Additionally, the company could install several works of art on the moon.
So far, space probes have mostly only left behind garbage and scrap on the moon, as well as memorial plaques and flags.
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