Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander captured stunning pictures shortly after separation from SpaceX’s Falcon 9’s second stage.
Another private US company has made a bid at landing on the Moon and making history on Thursday, launching a month after a rival’s lunar lander missed its mark and came crashing back to Earth.
SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, dispatching Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander on its way to the Moon, 370,000 km away.
If the spacecraft Odysseus’s mission is successful, its owner Intuitive Machines will make history as the first private company to land on the Moon.
The robotic craft will attempt to land on the lunar surface’s south pole, where scientists hope there could be a source of water.
Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX's second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the Moon under @NASA's CLPS initiative. pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024
The craft launched at 01:05 EST (06:05GMT) on top of a Falcon 9 rocket made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images captured shortly after separation from SpaceX’s second stage.
NASA, the main sponsor with experiments on board, is hoping for a successful Moon landing next week as it seeks to jumpstart the lunar economy ahead of astronaut missions.