The Odyssey lander was successfully launched into space and, if all is well, will land on the Moon next week. Photo: Intuitive Machines < p>If successful, the mission will also be the first time a private company has landed on the Moon after several failed attempts over the past year.
Odyssey will operate for about two weeks. It is carrying a payload for NASA to help the agency prepare to return humans to the Moon in 2025.
It will land in the Malapert A crater, about 185 miles from the Moon's South Pole, which is one of the candidate sites for Artemis Base Camp, where manned missions will land.
“We are getting even closer to the [Moon’s] South Pole,” said Susan Lederer, NASA mission scientist.
“It’s really good for understanding the science and what the Moon is like at the South Pole, because of course the Artemis base camp is planned to be at the South Pole.
“It is. helps us truly begin to understand the geology of where astronauts will eventually land on the surface of the Moon.»
There is hope that the mission will help better understand the part of the Moon where humans will return in 2025, near Malapert Crater. Photo: NASA
Landing on the Moon is notoriously difficult, with only the United States, Russia, India, China and Japan having accomplished the feat. All attempts by private companies have so far failed.
Last month, Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander was forced to abandon its mission due to a fuel leak just hours after launch.
< p>In April last year, the Hakuto-R lander, built by the Japanese company ispace, lost contact with mission controllers and crashed onto the lunar surface.
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