Intuitive Machines’ is attempting to land their Nova-C lunar lander, named Odysseus, on the surface of the Moon today. If the landing is successful, it will be the first time the United States has soft-landed a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon since the end of the Apollo program.
Odysseus is expected to attempt a landing at around 5:24 pm CST on Thursday, February 22nd. NASA and Intuitive Machines will host a live broadcast of landing operations beginning at 4 pm CST on NASA+, NASA TV, on NASA’s website, and on the agency’s YouTube channel.
Odysseus will land in the South Pole region of the Moon, in a crater named Malapert A. This landing site is near one of the proposed landing sites for future crewed Artemis missions to the Moon.
Once Odysseus completes a successful landing on the Moon, the science and tech payloads onboard will carry out investigations for about a week before the lander enters lunar night and runs out of battery power. However, many of the tech demonstrations and instruments on board begin operating during the descent and landing phase, demonstrations that are necessary to inform future lunar landing missions.
