by Private company Intuitive Machines could soon make history as its commercial lunar lander, Odysseus, will attempt to land near the moon’s south pole on Thursday (February 22).
If successful, the Intuitive Machines lander will be the first private probe ever to land on the moon and will mark the first US landing on the lunar surface since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission accomplished the feat in 1972. The mission carrying a series of NASA Experiments (as part of NASA’s $118 million contract) and some commercial payloads for paying customers.
If you’re hoping to watch the historic moon landing attempt live, you’ll need to know when Intuitive Machines is expected to touch down on February 22 – and for that, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what we know about when and how Odysseus will land on the moon.
Related: Private explorer Odysseus draws Intuitive Machines from the first photo of the moon
What time does Odysseus IM-1 land on the moon?
Intuitive Machines is currently focusing Thursday (February 22) to land its IM-1 lunar lander Odysseus on the lunar surface, with landing scheduled to occur no earlier than 5:30 pm EST (2230 GMT).
That landing time depends on several factors, the most important of which is exactly when Odysseus fires his engine to leave lunar orbit and begin his descent. Currently, Odysseus is soaring around the moon in a circular orbit of about 57 miles (92 kilometers).
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A little more than an hour before landing, Odysseus is scheduled to fire its engines in a descent orbit maneuver designed to put it into an orbit that is 62 miles (100 km) at its highest point and 6 miles (10 km) at the lowest point. . That low point should fall just above the landing site if all goes well, according to Intuitive Machines.
During the final descent, Odysseus will use an array of Terrain Relative Navigation cameras and lasers to track its approach to the lunar surface. The throttled engine will fire continuously to slow down the fall of about 1,800 meters per second (4,000 miles per hour) in a maneuver similar to that used by NASA’s Apollo Landers, the company said.
After a hard braking maneuver, Odysseus is supposed to slow himself down to exactly 2 mph (1 meter per second) for the final landing.
“Flight controllers expect a 15-second delay before confirming the final milestone, landing softly on the lunar surface,” the company wrote in a landing description.
Can you watch the Intuitive Machines moon landing online?
Yes, you will be able to watch IM-1 Odysseus lunar lander touch down live online, thanks to webcasts available for free by NASA and Intuitive Machines.
The NASA webcast will begin at 4:00 pm EST (2100 GMT) and continued the mission during its final approach and landing on the moon. You can tune in through the space agency’s NASA TV channel, the NASA+ streaming service and the NASA app. You can also follow the mission through updates on the NASA blog.
Intuitive Machines will stream the landing live on its main IM-1 mission page, although this webcast is expected to be a NASA live simulcast.
Space.com will also simulcast NASA’s Odysseus moon landing webcast, available at the top of this page at launch. You can also catch the stream via 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 lunar south pole.
The crater is about 43 miles (69 km) wide and is a satellite of the larger nearby Malapert crater. Near Malapert A, there is an area also known as Malapert Massif, a lunar mountain that rises 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above its base. This site is on NASA’s shortlist 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 focused on an area known as Oceanus Procellarum (or, Ocean of Storms), but NASA and Intuitive Machines shifted targets in May 2023 to better identify the moon’s south polar region and manage risks to eventually crewed flights.
How long will Odyssey IM-1 last on the moon?
Odysseus lander is intuitive machines designed to fly 16 day mission to the moon, a flight that began with a successful launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 15.
After a planned nine-day journey to the moon, Odysseus is expected to last for approx seven days on the surface of the moon, according to a mission overview. The mission will end as soon as the two-week lunar night begins because Odysseus is not expected to survive the harsh, cold lunar night.
“Intuitive Machines and its customers expect to conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations for approximately seven days before a lunar night sets on the moon’s south pole, rendering Odysseus inoperable,” Intuitive Machines wrote in its overview.
Note to the editor: This story was updated at 6:30 pm ET on February 21 with the new target landing time of no earlier than 5:30 pm ET on February 22.
