Houston, Texas-based Intuitive Machines is targeting 5:49 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 22, to put its Odysseus lunar lander on the surface of the moon—and it will be streamed live on NASA TV on YouTube.
The first U.S. commercial moon lander, Odysseus—also known by its nickname “Odie”—will touchdown near a crater called Malapert A in the south pole region of the moon.
If successful, this IM-1 mission—which is taking a scientific payload to the moon—will be the first spacecraft from the U.S. to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Landmark Moment
The landmark moment is timed for the arrival of the full “Snow Moon” on Saturday, a phase that sees the entire Earth-facing side of the moon—including Malapert A—bathed in sunlight. Odie is expected to work for one lunar day—about 14 Earth days.
NASA has just revealed the schedule for its live coverage, which will begin at 4:15 p.m. EST, an hour and 4 minutes before the intended time of touchdown. It will be screened on NASA+, NASA Television, NASA TV on YouTube, the NASA app and the agency’s website as well as on the space agency’s social media channels.
It’s expected that Intuitive Machines and NASA will host a news conference to discuss the mission after a successful landing.
Stunning Images
Odysseus, which launched at 1:05 a.m., February 15, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been sending back some stunning images during its journey to the moon.
The IM-1 mission follows Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission, which in January failed to get to the moon after a propellant leak, eventually crashing back to Earth. A few weeks later Japan’s “Moon Sniper” rover made a pinpoint landing on the lunar surface, making Japan only the fourth nation to successfully soft-land on the moon, joining the U.S, China and the Soviet Union.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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