The U.S. landed on the moon for the first time in over 50 years when the unmanned spacecraft Odysseus touched down on lunar soil Thursday evening.
In a joint effort spearheaded by Intuitive Machines, NASA and SpaceX – Intuitive Machines Chief Technology Tim Crain announced that Odysseus touched ground after an extremely long journey, The New York Times reported.
“Odysseus has a new home”!!! Congrats to @Int_Machines for soft landing on the moon!!! Hope all systems check out ok and we get some amazing images soon!!!
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) February 22, 2024
WATCH:
.@Int_Machines Mission Director: “What we can confirm, without a doubt, is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting.” pic.twitter.com/MHwOiTk3Uo
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 23, 2024
Last week on February 15, Odysseus was launched into orbit on “a trajectory toward the moon” via the SpaceX Rocket 9, the Times detailed. (RELATED: Musk’s SpaceX Has Deep Ties With US Intelligence Agencies — And They’re Only Getting Deeper)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on the IM-1 mission with the Nova-C moon lander built and owned by Intuitive Machines from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 15, 2024. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
In the moments leading up to the projected time of the landing, glitches in communications garnered widespread worries that the Odysseus had crashed.
Despite these concerns, Crain assured the world that the robotic spacecraft was “definitely on the moon and operating,” the Times reported.
That said, it remains unclear “whether the mission can achieve its objectives,” which include capturing updated surface-level images of Earth’s one and only orbiting moon.
The last time the U.S. landed on the moon was on the crewed mission Apollo 17, which was successfully launched and completed back in December of 1972, per Britannica. (RELATED: NASA Announces Crew For First Moon Landing In 50 Years)
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