Private company Intuitive Machines may soon make history when its commercial lunar lander Odysseus attempts to land near the moon’s south pole on Thursday, February 22.
If successful, the Intuitive Machines lander would be the first private probe to make a soft landing on the moon and the first U.S. landing on the lunar surface since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission achieved the feat in 1972. NASA experiments (as part of a $118 million NASA contract) and various commercial payloads for paying customers.
If you’re hoping to watch the historic moon landing attempt live, you need to know when Intuitive Machines hopes to land on February 22; We are here for you for this too. Here’s what we know about when and how Odysseus will land on the moon.
Relating to: Intuitive Machines’ custom Odysseus probe takes first moon photo
When will IM-1 Odysseus land on the moon?
Intuitive Machines is currently aiming Thursday (February 22) The IM-1 lunar lander will land Odysseus on the lunar surface, and the landing is planned to take place at the earliest. 17:30 EST (2230 GMT).
Landing time depends on many factors; the most significant of which is when Odysseus fully ignites his engine to exit lunar orbit and begin his descent. Currently, Odysseus is floating around the moon in a circular orbit of approximately 57 miles (92 kilometers).
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Just over an hour before landing, Odysseus is scheduled to fire its engine in a Descent Orbit Insertion maneuver designed to place it in an orbit of 62 miles (100 km) at its highest point and 6 miles (10 km) at its lowest point. . According to Intuitive Machines, if all goes well, this low point will fall right above the landing area.
During the final descent, Odysseus will use an array of Terrain Relative Navigation cameras and lasers to monitor its approach to the lunar surface. Its throttled engine will fire continuously to slow its descent to about 1,800 meters per second (4,000 miles per hour), a maneuver similar to that used by NASA’s Apollo landers, the company said.
After a hard braking maneuver, Odysseus was designed to slow itself to just 2 mph (1 meter per second) for final descent.
“Flight controllers anticipate a delay of approximately 15 seconds before confirming the final milestone of a soft landing on the surface of the moon,” the company wrote in its landing description.
Can you watch Intuitive Machines’ moon landing online?
Yes, you’ll be able to watch the IM-1 Odysseus moon landing live online, thanks to webcasts provided free of charge by NASA and Intuitive Machines.
NASA’s webcast will begin at: 16:00 EST (2100 GMT) and follow the mission through its final approach and moon landing. You can join the broadcast via the space agency’s NASA TV channel, NASA+ streaming service and NASA app. You can also follow the mission through updates on NASA’s blog.
Intuitive Machines will stream the landing live on the primary IM-1 mission page, but this webcast is expected to be a simulcast of NASA’s broadcast.
Space.com will also simulcast NASA’s Odysseus moon landing webcast and will be available at the top of this page at the start time. You can also watch the broadcast on our YouTube channel.
Where will Odysseus land?
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Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Odysseus spacecraft is targeting a region on the moon called Malapert A, a small crater about 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the moon’s south pole.
The crater is approximately 43 miles (69 km) wide and is a satellite of the nearby larger Malapert Crater. There is also an area near Malapert A called the Malapert Massif, a lunar mountain that rises 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above its base. This location is on NASA’s short list for the Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing mission.
Malapert A is named after the 17th-century Belgian astronomer Charles Malapert and is a relatively flat and safe place for Odysseus to land. Intuitive Machines initially targeted an area known as Oceanus Procellarum (or Storm Ocean), but NASA and Intuitive Machines changed targets in May 2023 to better explore the moon’s south polar region and manage risks for eventual crewed flights.
How long will IM-1 Odysseus survive on the moon?
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander is designed to fly 16 day mission The flight to the moon began with the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 15.
Odysseus is expected to remain there for about a while after his planned nine-day journey to the moon. seven days On the lunar surface, according to the mission overview. The mission will end when the two-week lunar night begins because Odysseus is not expected to survive the harsh and cold lunar night.
“Intuitive Machines and its customers expect to conduct science research and technology demonstrations for approximately seven days before the lunar night at the Moon’s south pole sets and renders Odysseus inoperable,” Intuitive Machines wrote in its overview.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:30 PM ET on February 21, and the new target landing time would be no earlier than 5:30 PM ET on February 22.