Intuitive Machines lands on the moon in historic first for a U.S. company

A
U.S.
company
has
gone
to
the
moon
–
and
into
the
history
books.

Intuitive
Machines
IM-1
mission
reached
the
moon’s
surface
on
Thursday
evening,
in
the
first
American
lunar
landing
since
the
Apollo
era.

The
company’s
Nova-C
cargo
lander,
named
“Odysseus”
after
the
mythological
Greek
hero,
is
the
first
U.S.
spacecraft
to
land
on
the
lunar
surface
since
1972.
Adding
to
the
feat,
Intuitive
Machines
is
the
first
company
to
pull
off
a
moon
landing
—
government
agencies
have
carried
out
all
previously
successful
missions.

“We
are
on
the
surface
and
we
are
transmitting.
Welcome
to
the
moon,”
Intuitive
Machines’
CEO
Steve
Altemus
said
from
mission
control.

There
was
a
delay,
as
expected,
between
the
landing
and
when
engineers
were
able
to
assess
its
success.

A
few
minutes
after
the
expected
landing
time,
Intuitive
Machines’
mission
control
was
still
trying
to
reconnect
communications
with
the
spacecraft
to
confirm
whether
it
landed.
The
company’s
mission
control
ultimately
picked
up
a
signal
and
announced
its
lander
was
on
the
surface.

“What
we
can
confirm,
without
a
doubt,
is
that
our
equipment
is
on
the
surface
of
the
moon
and
we
are
transmitting.
So
congratulations,
IM-1,”
Tim
Crain,
Intuitive
Machines’
CTO
and
IM-1
mission
director,
said.

“Odysseus
has
found
his
new
home,”
Crain
added.

Two
hours
after
the
landing,
Intuitive
Machines
said
in
a
statement
that
“flight
controllers
have
confirmed
Odysseus
is
upright
and
starting
to
send
data.”

The
company’s
stock
surged
in
extended
trading
Thursday,
after
falling
11%
in
regular
trading
to
close
at
$8.28
a
share.

Intuitive
Machines,
a
Houston,
Texas-based
company
founded
in
2013,
went
public
a
year
ago.
After
shares
hit
an
all-time
low
in
early
January,
the
stock
has
surged
and
more
than
tripled
–

a
rally
that
Wall
Street
analysts
describe
as
fueled
by
investor
excitement
around
the
IM-1
mission’s
progress.

The
lander
began
a
series
of
maneuvers
about
one
hour
before
touching
down,
starting
with
“Descent
Orbit
Insertion.

IM-1
landed
in
the
“Malapert
A”
crater,
about
300
kilometers
from
the
moon’s
south
pole.
After
landing,
Intuitive
Machines
aims
to
operate
Odysseus
on
the
surface
for
up
to
seven
days.

The
mission

launched
on
a
SpaceX
rocket
on
Feb.
15.
It
is
carrying
12
government
and
commercial
payloads
—
six
of
which
are
for
NASA
under
an
$118
million
contract.

The
hexagonal
lander
is
4.3
meters
(or
about
14
feet)
tall,
and
its
legs
spread
4.6
meters
(or
about
15
feet)
wide,
making
the
spacecraft
about
the
size
of
an
SUV
stood
on
its
end.

NASA
leadership
emphasized
before
the
launch
that
“IM-1
is
an
Intuitive
Machines’
mission,
it’s
not
a
NASA
mission.”
IM-1
marks
the
second
mission
under
NASA’s
Commercial
Lunar
Payload
Services
(CLPS)
initiative,
which
aims
to
deliver
science
projects
and
cargo
to
the
moon
with
increasing
regularity
in
support
of
the
agency’s Artemis
crew
program.

“Today,
for
the
first
time
in
more
than
a
half
century,
the
U.S.
has
returned
to
the
moon.
Today,
for
the
first
time
in
the
history
of
humanity,
a
commercial
company
and
an
American
company
launched
and
led
the
voyage
up
there,”
NASA
Administrator
Bill
Nelson
said
on
the
livestream

IM-1
is
also
the
latest
move
in
a
broader
geopolitical
race
to
the
moon.
While
Intuitive
Machines
represents
the
latest
American
effort,
other
nations
–
both
U.S.
rivals
and
allies
–
are
pouring
money
into
lunar
programs.

Last
month, Japan became
the
fifth
country
to
land
on
the
moon,
following
Russia,
the
U.S.,
China
and India.

Governments
and
private
companies
alike
have
made more
than
50
attempts to
land
on
the
moon
with
mixed
success
since
the
first
attempts
in
the
early
1960s,
and
the
track
record
has
remained
shaky
even
in
this
century. But
that’s
not
deterring
the
modern
moon
race
that’s
now
well
underway.

NASA
expects
U.S.
companies
to
launch additional
missions this
year,
while
China
plans
to
launch
its
next
lunar
lander
in
May.