Odysseus Lands on Moon’s South Pole: A Giant Leap for Private Space Exploration

Odysseus Successfully Lands on the crater of the Moon’s South Pole, Malapert A
Launched on Falcon 9 by SpaceX on the 15th… Entered Orbit around the moon on Feb. 21
NASA Plans to Use Data for Artemis Project

Intuitive Machines, an American private lunar lander company, successfully landed near the moon’s south pole. The United States has become a country that has successfully landed on the moon again after half a century.

On the 22nd (local time), according to Reuters, Intuitive Machines announced that “The lunar explorer Odysseus (Nova-C) successfully landed on the crater of the moon’s south pole known as Malapert A at 5:24 PM Central Time (8:24 AM Korean time on the 23rd).”

Steven Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, stated, “We knew this was a difficult task, but we are on the moon’s surface and transmitting. Welcome to the moon.”

Odysseus launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the 15th and entered lunar orbit on the 21st.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to collect lunar environmental data with Odysseus for Artemis’s manned lunar exploration project.

With the successful landing of Odysseus, the United States reached the moon again after about 52 years since Apollo 17 in December 1972. Intuitive Machines has set a record as the first private company to land on the moon successfully.