First lunar landing in over 50 years achieved by US firm
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Los Angeles: The first lunar lander from the US company Intuitive Machines has landed on the moon, making it the first American spacecraft to do so in almost 50 years.
According to NASA, the uncrewed lander dubbed Odysseus arrived at the lunar South Pole on Thursday at 6:23 p.m. Eastern Time. Odysseus transports NASA science and other commercial payloads to the Moon.
The spacecraft was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday last week from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, codenamed IM-1, marks Intuitive Machines' first robotic flight to the moon's surface, Xinhua news agency reported.
The scientific objectives of the mission include studies of plume-surface interactions, radio astronomy, and space weather interactions with the lunar surface.
It will also demonstrate precision landing technologies and communication and navigation node capabilities, according to NASA.
NASA is working with several US companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
The last US moon landing mission was made in December 1972, when Apollo 17 touched down on the lunar surface for the final mission of the Apollo Program.
With inputs from IANS