02/22/2024

U.S. Nears Attempt at First Moon Landing in More Than 50 Years

It's expected to land on the moon at 5:30 ET today

A spacecraft built and flown by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines sailed around the moon on Thursday headed for an attempt at the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever entirely by the private sector.

The six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, was due to begin the final descent from lunar orbit with a blast of its main engine about an hour before landing, with touchdown planned for 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) on Thursday at a crater named Malapert A near the moon's south pole.

The vehicle is carrying a suite of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA and several commercial customers designed to operate for seven days on solar energy before the sun sets over the polar landing site.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.