A privately-owned American spacecraft successfully arrived at the moon and began circling in a lower orbit on Wednesday, just one day before its planned landing on the rocky terrain.

If the landing on the moon goes smoothly, it would mark the first time the U.S. has returned to the moon since NASA’s Apollo program ended in 1972. Additionally, if the company succeeds, they will be the first privately-owned group to successfully land on the moon.

Intuitive Machines’ lander successfully ignited its engine on the far side of the moon last week, when communication with Earth was not possible. Flight controllers at the company’s Houston base had to wait until the spacecraft became visible again to determine its orbit or if it was veering off course.

Intuitive Machines confirmed its lander, nicknamed Odysseus, was circling the moon with experiments from NASA and other clients. The lander is part of a NASA program to kickstart the lunar economy; the space agency is paying $118 million to get its experiments on the moon on this mission.

On Thursday, the controllers will adjust the orbit from approximately 60 miles (92 kilometers) to 6 miles (10 kilometers). This is an important action that will take place on the far side of the moon, before attempting to land near the south pole. The location is considered risky due to the presence of craters and cliffs, but it is highly coveted by astronauts as it is believed to contain frozen water in its permanently shadowed craters.

Debris from unsuccessful landings can be found on the moon’s surface. Certain attempts were unable to even reach this stage. Astrobotic Technology, an American company, also attempted to send a lander to the moon in the previous month but was unsuccessful due to a fuel leak. As a result, the damaged lander re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean.

A summary of the moon’s successes and failures:

FIRST VICTORIES

In 1966, the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 successfully landed on the moon, a feat that its predecessors had failed to accomplish due to crashes or missing the moon entirely. The United States followed suit four months later with Surveyor 1. This marked the beginning of a competition between the two countries to achieve successful robotic landings as they worked towards the ultimate goal of sending humans to the moon.

APOLLO RULES

In 1969, NASA achieved victory in the space race against the Soviets by successfully landing on the moon with Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Twelve astronauts conducted six missions to explore the moon’s surface before the program concluded with Apollo 17 in 1972. The United States remains the only country to have sent humans to the moon and plans to send crews back by the end of 2026, following a lunar fly-around by astronauts in the previous year.

CHINA EMERGES

In 2013, China achieved a significant milestone by becoming the third nation to successfully land on the moon. They named their rover Yutu, which translates to jade rabbit in Chinese. In 2019, China made history again by landing the Yutu-2 rover on the unexplored far side of the moon. In 2020, they completed a sample return mission on the near side of the moon, collecting nearly 4 pounds (1.7 kilograms) of lunar rocks and dirt. China is currently preparing for another sample return mission, this time on the far side of the moon. As a major competitor to NASA, China has set a goal to send their astronauts to the moon by 2030.

RUSSIA STUMBLES

In 2023, Russia attempts its first moon landing in almost 50 years, but the Luna 25 spacecraft crashes into the moon. The previous lander from the country, Luna 24 in 1976, successfully landed and brought back moon samples to Earth.

India wins again.

In 2019, India’s initial lander collided with the moon, prompting them to reorganize and send out Chandrayaan-3 (which means “moon craft” in Hindi) in 2023. This time, the craft successfully lands on the moon, making India the fourth nation to achieve this feat. Interestingly, this victory comes only four days after Russia’s failed landing attempt.

JAPAN LANDS SIDEWAYS

In January, Japan successfully landed on the moon, making it the fifth country to do so. However, their spacecraft landed on the incorrect side, affecting its capacity to harness solar energy. Nevertheless, it was able to produce images and gather scientific data before becoming inactive during the long lunar night.

PRIVATE TRIES

A spacecraft, privately funded by Israel and named Beresheet (which means “in the beginning” in Hebrew), collided with the moon in 2019. In 2023, a lunar lander launched by a Japanese entrepreneur’s company, ispace, also experienced a crash. Astrobotic Technology, a company based in Pittsburgh, attempted to launch their lander in January but a fuel leak caused it to fail and prevent a landing. Both Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines have future plans for transporting materials to the moon.

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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group provides support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. The AP is solely responsible for creating all content.

Source: wral.com