Intuitive Machines’ robotic device has successfully reached the moon, becoming the first private spacecraft to land on its surface. It is also the first American spacecraft to reach the lunar surface in fifty years since the Apollo 17 mission ended in December 1972.

The lander, named Odyssey, landed in the south polar region of the Moon at 18.23 as part of the IM-1 mission. After about 15 minutes, controllers confirmed that they were receiving a signal from the descent module.

Intuitive Machines delayed the landing by two hours to complete an additional orbit around the moon. The company found that the laser rangefinders used for precision landing were not working properly. As a result, controllers downloaded a software patch that allowed the lander to use NASA’s Doppler guidance as an alternative. This leader was originally intended to introduce the technology.

The moon landing, performed by the private spacecraft Intuitive Machines, was the first such event in history to develop the moon by private companies.

As part of the IM-1 mission, Intuitive Machines deployed six NASA payloads onto the lander. These payloads are intended to demonstrate various technologies. These include a navigation Doppler leader, a navigation beacon, a radio-frequency fuel level sensor, and a camera for examining regolith clouds raised by the lander’s engine. Other payloads include a laser retroreflector and a radio astronomy device.

In addition, the Odyssey landing ship has six payloads belonging to various organizations and companies. Columbia Sportswear provided materials to test fuel tank insulation. Galactic Legacy Labs and Lonestar Data Holdings placed the data archives on the lander. Also installed in the module are two small astronomical cameras of the International Union of Lunar Observatories. Artist Jeff Koons also presented an artwork called “Phases of the Moon.”

Another instrument included in the module that was not developed by NASA is the EagleCam, a camera created by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students. EagleCam is designed to be able to be removed from the module during descent and take photographs of the incident.

Before the IM-1 mission, three more attempts were made to reach the moon with special vehicles, but they failed. In April 2019, the Beresheet vehicle developed by Israel Aerospace Industries crashed during landing due to a malfunction in the inertial measurement unit, which led to the failure and shutdown of the main engine.

Another unfortunate incident occurred in April 2023, when the Japanese ispace company’s HAKUTO-R M1 lander malfunctioned. As the vehicle flew over the edge of the crater, the onboard computer processed the altitude information incorrectly. Due to an error, the device “thought” it was on the surface of the Moon, when in fact it was at an altitude of five kilometers.

A third failed attempt occurred with the Peregrine lander launched by Astrobotic on January 8, 2023. A few hours after the module was launched, a fuel leak occurred, causing Astrobotic to abort its attempt to reach the moon. A week and a half later, Peregrine burned up in Earth’s atmosphere.