He Intuitive machines published it first images of his Odysseus lander on lunar soil, while all NASA experiments on board remain operational. This is the first return of USA to the moon from Apollo 17 and the first private lunar lander to transmit valuable science data from any NASA payload from the lunar surface, as Intuitive Machines reports on its account on X, formerly Twitter.
The image above illustrating this message shows Odysseus made his first contact with the lunar surface on February 22nd as the spacecraft’s descent engine accelerated. The photo shows one of the spacecraft’s legs as it completed its primary task of making initial contact with the lunar surface. Because the lander’s liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine was still accelerating, it provided stability.
Both NASA and Intuitive Machines jointly hosted a press conference to provide an update on the status of the six NASA instruments that collected data on the IM-1 mission. During the briefing, the mission’s challenges and successes were discussed, including the download of more than 350 megabits of scientific data for analysis.
During the transit from Earth to the Moon, all payloads end up on the Moon POT operated and received data. During the descent and landing, guidance and navigation data was collected, which will help improve landing accuracy in the future, and the three payloads designed to operate on the surface received data.
Furthermore, Intuitive Machines highlights this has successfully tested the operation of its liquid methane and liquid oxygen propulsion system in space on its first flight to the moon. Another image released at the briefing on February 27 shows the lander’s tilted orientation and a view of the moon’s south polar region.