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SPACE — Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander, Odysseus is preparing to descend to the lunar surface. The 4.3 meter high robotic aircraft will land near the south pole of the moon this morning at 6.24 WIB or less than an hour from now, Friday, February 23 2023.
You can watch the landing live via real time broadcast from NASA. The live broadcast video has started showing here: NASA
Odysseus launched on February 15 on a six-day trip to the moon. It carries 12 payloads, six of which are NASA science and technology instruments.
“We’re very excited, but we’re also very nervous,” said Jack Burns, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who is the principal investigator for one of NASA’s science instruments aboard Odysseus.
Also Read: Landing on the Moon Today, the Odysseus Plane Sends the First Photo in Lunar Orbit
If everything goes according to plan today, Odysseus will land on the edge of a small crater called Malapert A, about 300 km from the moon’s south pole on the side facing Earth. This success will be history, because no private vehicle has ever successfully landed on the moon before.
“Landing near Malapert A will also help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from locations low on the lunar horizon,” NASA said.
Malapert A is relatively flat so it is safe to land, and Odysseus will target a landing area the size of a football field. As it descends, the craft will rely on real-time images and onboard navigation software to adjust its speed and land gently near the crater.
“This is a new place to land,” Burns said.
Also read: Failing with a plane carrying human remains, the US is now sending statues and museums to the moon
The IM-1 surface mission is expected to last about half a lunar day, or roughly seven Earth days. “Our lunar day will be a little shorter than in other places. But we can do a lot of good things in science during that time,” Burns said. Source: Space.com
