For the first time, a commercial lunar probe from a private company has landed on the moon. The unmanned US lunar lander Odysseus reached the surface of the satellite on Thursday (Earth time) and sent a signal from there, as a representative of the Texas company Intuitive Machines reported. It is the first US moon landing since the end of the Apollo program more than 50 years ago.
However, it was initially unclear whether the probe was fully functional. According to the live commentators, she may not have landed vertically as planned.
The hexagonal probe landed in a crater near the moon’s south pole. According to the US space agency, it will carry out temperature and radiation measurements as well as soil investigations, among other things. The aim is to research the requirements for future manned lunar missions.
Odysseus was launched into space a week ago aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle from the US spaceport Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Just last month, the US company Astrorobotic failed with a similar mission. Their lunar lander had to self-destruct before reaching Earth’s satellite due to a fuel leak. NASA promotes lunar flights by private companies in order to later use them for cargo flights. With their help, she wants to prepare the moon as a stopover for future manned flights to Mars.
So far, only the USA, the Soviet Union, China, India and Japan have succeeded in landing on the moon. A private company has never succeeded in such an undertaking before.
