• 8 months ago
A lunar lander crafted by Houston-based aerospace firm Intuitive Machines embarked on a historic journey from Florida early Thursday, aiming to achieve the first U.S. moon landing in over 50 years and the maiden touchdown by a privately owned spacecraft. Named Odysseus, the Nova-C lander took flight shortly after 1 a.m. EST atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk's SpaceX at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

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Transcript
00:00 A lunar lander crafted by Houston-based aerospace firm Intuitive Machines embarked on a historic
00:06 journey from Florida early Thursday, aiming to achieve the first U.S. moon landing in
00:11 over 50 years and the maiden touchdown by a privately owned spacecraft.
00:15 Named Odysseus, the Nova-C lander took flight shortly after 1 a.m. EST atop a Falcon 9 rocket
00:21 from Elon Musk's SpaceX at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
00:27 A live stream captured the majestic ascent of the 25-story rocket, piercing the dark
00:32 sky above Florida's Atlantic coast, leaving behind a fiery trail of exhaust.
00:37 Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the launch faced a 24-hour delay due to irregular temperatures
00:42 detected in the lander's liquid methane propulsion system, a challenge promptly resolved by SpaceX.
00:49 While this mission is under the banner of Intuitive Machines, known as IM-1, it carries
00:54 six NASA payloads aimed at collecting vital data about the lunar environment ahead of
00:58 NASA's anticipated astronaut return to the moon later this decade.
01:02 This launch follows closely after the setback of Astrobotic Technologies' lunar lander,
01:07 which encountered propulsion issues after being deployed into the orbit on January 8.
01:12 The success of Intuitive Machines' Nova-C vehicle, shaped like a hexagonal cylinder
01:15 with four legs, hinges on its controlled descent to crater Malapert A near the moon's south
01:20 pole, scheduled for February 22.
01:23 Achieving this would mark the first controlled US spacecraft landing on the moon since the
01:27 Apollo missions in 1972, as well as the inaugural private company landing.
01:32 This feat also underscores NASA's Artemis program's mission to return astronauts to
01:36 the moon, racing against China's lunar exploration ambitions.
01:40 Looking ahead, Intuitive Machines has planned IM-2 and IM-3 missions to land at the lunar
01:44 south pole in 2024, followed by the deployment of small drovers.
01:48 Japan recently joined the lunar exploration endeavor, achieving precise touchdown with
01:52 its slim probe, while India marked its own successful moon landing last year.
02:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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