Intuitive Machines module aims to become the first private device to land on satellite next week
Over 50 years since leaving the moon, the US has launched the Odiseo module back to the Earth’s natural satellite. The successful launch took place from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Odiseo, a new lander model called Nova-C from Intuitive Machines, aims to land on the moon next Thursday, carrying six NASA devices. If successful, it will be the first US spacecraft to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first private module to do so. The launch also featured an innovation, as the Falcon 9 was fueled with methane for the first time. The module carries 12 payloads, half of which belong to NASA, and six commercial devices, including a lunar sculpture urn by artist Jeff Koons. This mission, IM-1, aims to land near the Malapert A crater, 260 kilometers from the lunar south pole, to exploit the massive water