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NEW DELHI: In America‘s first quest to land on moon in over 25 years, a lunar lander designed by Houston-based aerospace firm Intuitive Machines was launched efficiently from Florida early on Thursday.
Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1am EST (0600 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk’ SpaceX from Nasa’s Kennedy Area Middle in Cape Canaveral.
Mission goal
The mission, “1M-1”, is hoping to be the primary non-government try at reaching a gentle landing on Moon. It additionally goals to land the primary US robotic on the lunar floor because the Apollo missions greater than 5 a long time in the past.
Carry off
IM-1 was initially alleged to blast off on Wednesday, however the launch was postponed after SpaceX found irregular temperatures because it tried to gas up the lander. The hexagonal-shaped lander “Odysseus” blasted off on high of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday.
What’s aboard
NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to ship science {hardware} to higher perceive and mitigate environmental dangers for astronauts, who’re slated to land on moon in 2026. There may be extra colourful cargo aboard as nicely, together with a digital archive of human information and 125 mini-sculptures of the Moon by the artist Jeff Koons. After landing, the payloads are anticipated to run for roughly seven days earlier than lunar evening units in on the south pole, rendering Odysseus inoperable.
When’s D-Day?
Regardless of a day’s delay, the spacecraft is predicted to achieve its touchdown website “Malapert A” on February 22. It is an influence crater 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the south pole. The lander has a brand new sort of supercooled liquid methane and oxygen engine giving it the facility to achieve its vacation spot shortly, avoiding extended publicity to a area of excessive radiation surrounding the Earth referred to as the Van Allen belt.
Area race
The launch is historic for America as it can mark the start of a journey to Moon beneath Nasa’s Artemis programme. US is racing to return astronauts to Earth’s pure satellite tv for pc earlier than China lands its personal crewed spacecraft there. Each international locations are planning a sequence of missions, turning the celestial physique into a brand new frontier of area dominance, a long time after the Chilly Struggle-era race between USSR and US.
Others not far behind
Final month, Nasa stated it can launch a primary crewed Artemis moon touchdown in late 2026, whereas China has stated it was aiming for 2030. However different international locations are additionally capturing for the Moon. Final month, Japan turned the fifth nation to position a lander on the moon, with its area company JAXA reaching an unusually exact “pinpoint” landing of its SLIM probe final month. In 2023, India turned the fourth nation to land on the moon, and first to land on the south pole with the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.
(With inputs from companies)
Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1am EST (0600 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk’ SpaceX from Nasa’s Kennedy Area Middle in Cape Canaveral.
Mission goal
The mission, “1M-1”, is hoping to be the primary non-government try at reaching a gentle landing on Moon. It additionally goals to land the primary US robotic on the lunar floor because the Apollo missions greater than 5 a long time in the past.
Carry off
IM-1 was initially alleged to blast off on Wednesday, however the launch was postponed after SpaceX found irregular temperatures because it tried to gas up the lander. The hexagonal-shaped lander “Odysseus” blasted off on high of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday.
What’s aboard
NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to ship science {hardware} to higher perceive and mitigate environmental dangers for astronauts, who’re slated to land on moon in 2026. There may be extra colourful cargo aboard as nicely, together with a digital archive of human information and 125 mini-sculptures of the Moon by the artist Jeff Koons. After landing, the payloads are anticipated to run for roughly seven days earlier than lunar evening units in on the south pole, rendering Odysseus inoperable.
When’s D-Day?
Regardless of a day’s delay, the spacecraft is predicted to achieve its touchdown website “Malapert A” on February 22. It is an influence crater 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the south pole. The lander has a brand new sort of supercooled liquid methane and oxygen engine giving it the facility to achieve its vacation spot shortly, avoiding extended publicity to a area of excessive radiation surrounding the Earth referred to as the Van Allen belt.
Area race
The launch is historic for America as it can mark the start of a journey to Moon beneath Nasa’s Artemis programme. US is racing to return astronauts to Earth’s pure satellite tv for pc earlier than China lands its personal crewed spacecraft there. Each international locations are planning a sequence of missions, turning the celestial physique into a brand new frontier of area dominance, a long time after the Chilly Struggle-era race between USSR and US.
Others not far behind
Final month, Nasa stated it can launch a primary crewed Artemis moon touchdown in late 2026, whereas China has stated it was aiming for 2030. However different international locations are additionally capturing for the Moon. Final month, Japan turned the fifth nation to position a lander on the moon, with its area company JAXA reaching an unusually exact “pinpoint” landing of its SLIM probe final month. In 2023, India turned the fourth nation to land on the moon, and first to land on the south pole with the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.
(With inputs from companies)
