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<p>Soft-landing a craft on the moon is difficult. There's no nation or private firm that will dispute it. Everyone who has tried has learnt lessons the hard way. Ample testimony to this fact is how America, the pioneer&nbsp;of space technology with multiple Apollo-series manned moon landings is celebrating the latest partial success by private firm Intuitive Machines.&nbsp;Lunar lander Odysseus,&nbsp;made by Texas-based Intuitive Machines,&nbsp;managed to soft-land near the Lunar South Pole on Friday (Feb 23).</p>

<p>America's last manned moon mission was the Apollo 17 in 1972 and since then, America hasn't landed on the moon — be it man or robot... In recent years, the US has been working towards setting up a long-term presence of humans on the moon.</p>

<p>As part of this, NASA has been funding American private firms, in what is known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme. NASA pays companies to ferry different kinds of experiments to the moon, the private firm would be tasked with building, launching and operating the spacecraft.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/us-spaceship-odysseus-may-have-tipped-over-on-moon-surface-likely-fractured-landing-equipment-693303">US spaceship Odysseus may have 'tipped over' on Moon surface, likely 'fractured' landing equipment</a></p>

<p>Earlier this year, a similar private Mission Peregrine One by American Firm Astrobotic ended up in failure, while travelling from the earth to the moon. That's where Intuitive Machines has succeeded. Their craft has soft-landed on the moon and is operational. Literally - there's an American moon landing, more than 50 years after Apollo 17. However, there's a catch.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The robotic craft Odysseus appears to have landed tilted. Perhaps, it broke a leg while landing. It does qualify as a soft landing, but the craft's operational capabilities could be impacted in some way or the other.</p>

<p>Recently, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA also soft-landed its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon(SLIM) craft. With that, Japan became the 5th nation to land a craft on the moon, but even SLIM had a tilted landing. It hampered some of the operations of the craft. However, Japan managed to get images of their craft on the moon using their toy-based robotic rovers. So Far, the American firm hasn't shared images of their Odysseus landed on the moon.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Moon landings are never easy. A host of private firms and Government agencies failed in recent years.&nbsp;<strong>Here are the notable ones:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>In April 2019, Beresheet, a private mission from Israel had hard-landed on the moon and was destroyed on impact.</li>
	<li>In September 2019, the Indian space agency's Chandrayaan-2 had a hard landing and was destroyed on impact.</li>
	<li>In March 2023, Hakuto-R, a private moon landing mission from Japan crash-landed on the moon.</li>
	<li>In August 2023, Russia's Luna-25 lander crash-landed on the moon, owing to a failed manoeuvre. It was a mission by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.</li>
</ul>

<p>However, the biggest success in recent years has been India's Chandrayaan-3 which soft-landed flawlessly on August 23, 2023. This was of course a mission by the Indian government space agency ISRO. Indian space agency officials described it as a "feather-like soft-landing".&nbsp;</p>

<p>This was India's second attempt at lunar landing and it delivered on all planned objectives and much more. The success of Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated the determination of ISRO teams, who worked for four years to perfect the flawless mission by performing thousands of simulations and ground tests.</p>

<h2><strong>Chandrayaan-3 highlights</strong></h2>

<p>The Vikram lander touched down perfectly near the Lunar south pole, as planned. It was the first craft to soft touch down near the lunar south pole&nbsp;</p>

<p>ISRO shared multiple images of the lander and rover on the Lunar surface. The lander ramp was deployed and rover Pragyan traversed the moon.&nbsp;All scientific equipment performed their roles and sent the data back to Earth.</p>

<p><strong>Watch:&nbsp;Odysseus moon landing: Historic mission reaches lunar surface</strong></p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/odysseus-moon-landing-historic-mission-reaches-lunar-surface-692967/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>Before the planned end of the mission, ISRO performed a hop test with its lander and tested a crucial technology where a craft can fire its engines to vertically take off from the moon's surface.</p>

<p>From the moon's orbit, the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module was steered back towards Earth. This is essential to return from the moon and bring back samples to earth.</p>

<p>Learning lessons from one failed landing, ISRO delivered a textbook success mission with Chandrayaan-3 and made 1.4 billion Indians proud and amazed the world. ISRO is now working on Chandrayaan-4. ISRO is also working with the Japanese space agency JAXA - a mission known as LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration). LUPEX will be launched on a Japanese rocket. It will comprise an Indian moon lander and a Japanese robotic rover.</p>


Soft-landing a craft on the moon is difficult. There's no nation or private firm that will dispute it. Everyone who has tried has learnt lessons the hard way. Ample testimony to this fact is how America, the pioneer of space technology with multiple Apollo-series manned moon landings is celebrating the latest partial success by private firm Intuitive Machines.

Soft-landing a craft on the moon is difficult. There's no nation or private firm that will dispute it. Everyone who has tried has learnt lessons the hard way. Ample testimony to this fact is how America, the pioneer of space technology with multiple Apollo-series manned moon landings is celebrating the latest partial success by private firm Intuitive Machines. Lunar lander Odysseus, made by Texas-based Intuitive Machines, managed to soft-land near the Lunar South Pole on Friday (Feb 23). America's last manned moon mission was the Apollo 17 in 1972 and since then, America hasn't landed on the moon — be it man or robot... In recent years, the US has been working towards setting up a long-term presence of humans on the moon. As part of this, NASA has been funding American private firms, in what is known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme. NASA pays companies to ferry different kinds of experiments to the moon, the private firm would be tasked with building, launching and operating the spacecraft. Also Read: US spaceship Odysseus may have 'tipped over' on Moon surface, likely 'fractured' landing equipment Earlier this year, a similar private Mission Peregrine One by American Firm Astrobotic ended up in failure, while travelling from the earth to the moon. That's where Intuitive Machines has succeeded. Their craft has soft-landed on the moon and is operational. Literally - there's an American moon landing, more than 50 years after Apollo 17. However, there's a catch. The robotic craft Odysseus appears to have landed tilted. Perhaps, it broke a leg while landing. It does qualify as a soft landing, but the craft's operational capabilities could be impacted in some way or the other. Recently, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA also soft-landed its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon(SLIM) craft. With that, Japan became the 5th nation to land a craft on the moon, but even SLIM had a tilted landing. It hampered some of the operations of the craft. However, Japan managed to get images of their craft on the moon using their toy-based robotic rovers. So Far, the American firm hasn't shared images of their Odysseus landed on the moon. Moon landings are never easy. A host of private firms and Government agencies failed in recent years. Here are the notable ones: In April 2019, Beresheet, a private mission from Israel had hard-landed on the moon and was destroyed on impact. In September 2019, the Indian space agency's Chandrayaan-2 had a hard landing and was destroyed on impact. In March 2023, Hakuto-R, a private moon landing mission from Japan crash-landed on the moon. In August 2023, Russia's Luna-25 lander crash-landed on the moon, owing to a failed manoeuvre. It was a mission by the Russian space agency Roscosmos. However, the biggest success in recent years has been India's Chandrayaan-3 which soft-landed flawlessly on August 23, 2023. This was of course a mission by the Indian government space agency ISRO. Indian space agency officials described it as a "feather-like soft-landing". This was India's second attempt at lunar landing and it delivered on all planned objectives and much more. The success of Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated the determination of ISRO teams, who worked for four years to perfect the flawless mission by performing thousands of simulations and ground tests. Chandrayaan-3 highlights The Vikram lander touched down perfectly near the Lunar south pole, as planned. It was the first craft to soft touch down near the lunar south pole ISRO shared multiple images of the lander and rover on the Lunar surface. The lander ramp was deployed and rover Pragyan traversed the moon. All scientific equipment performed their roles and sent the data back to Earth. Watch: Odysseus moon landing: Historic mission reaches lunar surface Before the planned end of the mission, ISRO performed a hop test with its lander and tested a crucial technology where a craft can fire its engines to vertically take off from the moon's surface. From the moon's orbit, the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module was steered back towards Earth. This is essential to return from the moon and bring back samples to earth. Learning lessons from one failed landing, ISRO delivered a textbook success mission with Chandrayaan-3 and made 1.4 billion Indians proud and amazed the world. ISRO is now working on Chandrayaan-4. ISRO is also working with the Japanese space agency JAXA - a mission known as LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration). LUPEX will be launched on a Japanese rocket. It will comprise an Indian moon lander and a Japanese robotic rover.

Explained | What’s the buzz over America’s first private moon landing? Is it a success?

<p><strong>Intuitive Machines lunar lander live streaming Online:&nbsp;</strong>US-based private company Intuitive Machines is all set to touchdown on the Moon on Thursday evening with its lunar spacecraft. The Houston company launched the spacecraft bound for the Moon&nbsp;on February 15. It aims to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If the mission successfully achieves a soft landing on the Moon on February 22, Intuitive Machines will become the first-ever private firm to do so, opening similar avenues for other players in the field.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This will also be the first&nbsp;US&nbsp;landing on the lunar surface since the&nbsp;Apollo 17&nbsp;mission that achieved the distinction&nbsp;in 1972.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/mystery-genetic-material-in-butterflies-moths-has-not-changed-for-over-250-mn-years-692522">Mystery? Genetic material in butterflies, moths has not changed for over 250 mn years!</a></p>

<p>The IM-1 mission was launched with a robotic lunar lander aboard the Odysseus spacecraft last week. The engine of Odysseus' spacecraft was fired for six minutes and 48 seconds before it was slowed down to be pulled by the moon’s gravity into a circular orbit 57 miles above the surface.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Odysseus passes over the near side of the Moon following lunar orbit insertion on 21FEB2024. The lander continues to be in excellent health in lunar orbit.<br />
(21FEB2024 1608 CST) <a href="https://t.co/UX4kgkv5EW">pic.twitter.com/UX4kgkv5EW</a></p>
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760426223073734704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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<p>Odysseus, which is about the size of a British telephone booth, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 12 payloads toward the moon. Half of them are NASA science instruments, which the agency put on board via its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS).</p>

<p>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/dead-european-satellite-finally-tumbles-to-earth-after-spending-30-years-in-space-692500">Dead European satellite finally tumbles to Earth after spending 30 years in space</a></p>

<p>With Thursday evening’s completion of the IM-1 mission, it will become the first American mission to arrive on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here’s how you can watch the landing live:</p>

<h2><strong>When and where to watch the live landing of&nbsp;Odysseus?(Moon Landing live streaming)</strong></h2>

<p>Odysseus is expected to land on the lunar surface at 5:30 pm Eastern Time (4:00 am IST Friday) on Thursday. The landing time was changed by Intuitive Machines on Wednesday afternoon, moving it up by 19 minutes. The live landing of the spacecraft can be seen on the official YouTube channel of NASA.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The landing is expected to begin at 4:00 pm ET (2:30 am IST Friday) on Thursday.&nbsp;</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CvdgoX-3WOM?si=uxQHUDdAyMDFfeRw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h3><strong>Odysseus, gearing up to land on moon, beams image of lunar crater</strong></h3>

<p>On its way to the landing site, Odysseus teased&nbsp;a new image, an image of the Bel’kovich crater in the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands. The image was captured by Odysseus’ Terrain Relative Navigation camera.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Odysseus’ Terrain Relative Navigation camera captured this image of the Bel’kovich K crater in the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands.<br />
<br />
It is an approximate 50 km diameter crater with mountains in the center, made when the crater was formed.<br />
(21FEB2024 1750 CST) <a href="https://t.co/0egu0NOrKP">pic.twitter.com/0egu0NOrKP</a></p>
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760452044454842575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<p>The crater is approximately 50 km in diameter with mountains in the centre, made when the crater was formed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier, the spacecraft&nbsp;captured some mesmerising images of the moon and of the Earth.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Goodnight, Moon.<br />
<br />
Odysseus captured this image approximately 100,000km from the Moon using its Terrain Relative Navigation camera. <a href="https://t.co/wC1L9CKjdN">pic.twitter.com/wC1L9CKjdN</a></p>
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760182646833893449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a>'s second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the Moon under <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASA</a>'s CLPS initiative. <a href="https://t.co/9LccL6q5tF">pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF</a></p>
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1758899202174685589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Location of Odysseus’ landing</strong></h3>

<p>Just like India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, Odysseus aims to land at a spot in the South Polar Region, a flat plain outside the Malapert A crater. Malapert A is a satellite crater of the larger Malapert crater, which is named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer.</p>

<p>The landing site is about 185 miles from the moon’s south pole.</p>

<p>With the IM-1 mission, the Intuitive Machine is designed to carry several of NASA's&nbsp;payloads in future that may hopefully support human missions on the moon in the coming years.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


Intuitive Machines lunar lander live streaming Online: US-based private company Intuitive Machines is all set to touchdown on the Moon on Thursday evening with its lunar spacecraft.

Intuitive Machines lunar lander live streaming Online: US-based private company Intuitive Machines is all set to touchdown on the Moon on Thursday evening with its lunar spacecraft. The Houston company launched the spacecraft bound for the Moon on February 15. It aims to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. If the mission successfully achieves a soft landing on the Moon on February 22, Intuitive Machines will become the first-ever private firm to do so, opening similar avenues for other players in the field. This will also be the first US landing on the lunar surface since the Apollo 17 mission that achieved the distinction in 1972. Also Read | Mystery? Genetic material in butterflies, moths has not changed for over 250 mn years! The IM-1 mission was launched with a robotic lunar lander aboard the Odysseus spacecraft last week. The engine of Odysseus' spacecraft was fired for six minutes and 48 seconds before it was slowed down to be pulled by the moon’s gravity into a circular orbit 57 miles above the surface. Odysseus passes over the near side of the Moon following lunar orbit insertion on 21FEB2024. The lander continues to be in excellent health in lunar orbit. (21FEB2024 1608 CST) pic.twitter.com/UX4kgkv5EW — Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 21, 2024 × Odysseus, which is about the size of a British telephone booth, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 12 payloads toward the moon. Half of them are NASA science instruments, which the agency put on board via its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS). Also Read | Dead European satellite finally tumbles to Earth after spending 30 years in space With Thursday evening’s completion of the IM-1 mission, it will become the first American mission to arrive on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Here’s how you can watch the landing live: When and where to watch the live landing of Odysseus?(Moon Landing live streaming) Odysseus is expected to land on the lunar surface at 5:30 pm Eastern Time (4:00 am IST Friday) on Thursday. The landing time was changed by Intuitive Machines on Wednesday afternoon, moving it up by 19 minutes. The live landing of the spacecraft can be seen on the official YouTube channel of NASA. The landing is expected to begin at 4:00 pm ET (2:30 am IST Friday) on Thursday. Odysseus, gearing up to land on moon, beams image of lunar crater On its way to the landing site, Odysseus teased a new image, an image of the Bel’kovich crater in the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands. The image was captured by Odysseus’ Terrain Relative Navigation camera. Odysseus’ Terrain Relative Navigation camera captured this image of the Bel’kovich K crater in the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands. It is an approximate 50 km diameter crater with mountains in the center, made when the crater was formed. (21FEB2024 1750 CST) pic.twitter.com/0egu0NOrKP — Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 21, 2024 × The crater is approximately 50 km in diameter with mountains in the centre, made when the crater was formed. Earlier, the spacecraft captured some mesmerising images of the moon and of the Earth. Goodnight, Moon. Odysseus captured this image approximately 100,000km from the Moon using its Terrain Relative Navigation camera. pic.twitter.com/wC1L9CKjdN — Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 21, 2024 × Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX's second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the Moon under @NASA's CLPS initiative. pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF — Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024 × Location of Odysseus’ landing Just like India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, Odysseus aims to land at a spot in the South Polar Region, a flat plain outside the Malapert A crater. Malapert A is a satellite crater of the larger Malapert crater, which is named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer. The landing site is about 185 miles from the moon’s south pole. With the IM-1 mission, the Intuitive Machine is designed to carry several of NASA's payloads in future that may hopefully support human missions on the moon in the coming years. (With inputs from agencies)

Odysseus: Private mission to moon beams pic of Bel’kovich K crater. How to watch landing live

<p>The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA has released an image of a sea&nbsp;of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds Mars' northern polar cap and covers an area as big as Texas.</p>

<p>In this false-color image, areas with cooler temperatures are recorded in bluer tints, while warmer features are depicted in yellows and oranges. Thus, the dark, sun-warmed dunes glow with a golden color. This image covers an area 19 miles (30 kilometres) wide.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasas-hubble-telescope-clicks-haunting-image-of-a-dying-galaxy-377173">NASA's Hubble telescope clicks haunting image of a dying galaxy</a></strong></p>

<p>This scene combines images taken during the period from December 2002 to November 2004 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter. It is part of a special set of images marking the 20th anniversary of Odyssey, the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. The pictured location on Mars is 80.3 degrees north latitude, 172.1 degrees east longitude.</p>

<p>For two decades, the longest-lived spacecraft at the Red Planet has helped locate water ice, assess landing sites, and study the planet’s mysterious moons.</p>

<p>NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft launched 20 years ago on April 7, making it the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet. The orbiter, which takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke’s classic sci-fi novel “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Clarke blessed its use before launch), was sent to map the composition of the Martian surface, providing a window to the past so scientists could piece together how the planet evolved.</p>

<p>But it’s done far more than that, uncovering troves of water ice, serving as a crucial communications link for other spacecraft, and helping to pave the way not just for safer landings but also future astronauts.</p>


The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA has released an image of a sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds Mars' northern polar cap and covers an area as big as Texas.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA has released an image of a sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds Mars' northern polar cap and covers an area as big as Texas. In this false-color image, areas with cooler temperatures are recorded in bluer tints, while warmer features are depicted in yellows and oranges. Thus, the dark, sun-warmed dunes glow with a golden color. This image covers an area 19 miles (30 kilometres) wide. Also Read | NASA's Hubble telescope clicks haunting image of a dying galaxy This scene combines images taken during the period from December 2002 to November 2004 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter. It is part of a special set of images marking the 20th anniversary of Odyssey, the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. The pictured location on Mars is 80.3 degrees north latitude, 172.1 degrees east longitude. For two decades, the longest-lived spacecraft at the Red Planet has helped locate water ice, assess landing sites, and study the planet’s mysterious moons. NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft launched 20 years ago on April 7, making it the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet. The orbiter, which takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke’s classic sci-fi novel “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Clarke blessed its use before launch), was sent to map the composition of the Martian surface, providing a window to the past so scientists could piece together how the planet evolved. But it’s done far more than that, uncovering troves of water ice, serving as a crucial communications link for other spacecraft, and helping to pave the way not just for safer landings but also future astronauts.

NASA releases stunning image of magical 'sea of dunes' on Mars