After previous flop, NASA hopes for successful lunar landing
Newsy
NASA will try again to place a lander on the moon Thursday, just weeks after another mission had to be abandoned due to an in-flight issue.
The Odysseus lunar lander is expected to land near the South Pole of the moon Thursday afternoon, marking the first U.S. uncrewed commercial moon landing, NASA said.
Intuitive Machines' lander is expected to land near the Malapert A region of the moon around 4:24 p.m. ET Thursday. The landing can be watched live on NASA's website. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket helped launch the lander into space last week from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
The moon landing is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. NASA says CLPS and Artemis are helping scientists better understand our solar system and learn more about long-term human exploration of space.
“NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon — a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.”
Thursday's scheduled landing comes nearly a month after NASA abandoned its Peregrine Mission One. That mission was set to also include an uncrewed lunar landing, but after mid-flight issues arose, NASA opted to direct the spacecraft and its onboard lunar lander to reenter Earth's atmosphere.
