Names | TO2-IM[1] CLPS-2[2] |
---|---|
Mission type | Lunar landing |
Operator | Intuitive Machines |
COSPAR ID | 2024-030A |
SATCAT no. | 58963 |
Mission duration | 14 days[3] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Odysseus |
Spacecraft type | Nova-C |
Manufacturer | Intuitive Machines |
Launch mass | 1,900 kg (4,200 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | February 15, 2024, 06:05:00UTC |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1060.18) ♺ |
Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39A |
End of mission | |
Declared | March 23, 2024[4] |
Last contact | February 29, 2024[3] |
Lunar lander | |
Landing date | February 22, 2024, 23:23:00 UTC |
Landing site | Malapert A 80°08′S 1°26′E / 80.13°S 1.44°E[5] |
IM-1 mission insignia Motto: ADTIGO PLANITIA LUNAE (I touch the plains of the Moon) (Stick The Landing)[6] |
IM-1 was a lunar mission that was carried out in February 2024 jointly by a partnership between the NASA CLPS program and Intuitive Machines (IM), using an Nova-C lunar lander. IM named their lunar lander as its Odysseus lander. The Odysseus lander was the first commercial lunar lander to have successfully soft-landed on the Moon.[7][8]
After contact with the lunar surface the lander tipped to an unplanned 30 degree angle. All instrument payloads remained functional and the mission was deemed successful.[9] Intuitive Machines initially stated there was a possibility the lander could wake up in about three weeks when the sun comes out,[10] but on March 23 the company announced its conclusion that the lander's electronics had not survived the lunar night, and the mission was declared over.[11][12]
Odysseus's "rough" soft Moon landing is the first soft lunar landing of any kind for an American-made spacecraft since Apollo 17 in 1972. It is the first soft lunar landing by a private company.[13][14] Steve Altemus, CEO of IM, says it is the first liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox)-powered spacecraft to fire beyond low-earth orbit, and it is also the first methalox spacecraft to land on an off-world celestial body.[15] Odysseus carried six payloads developed by NASA in addition to others from commercial and educational customers.
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