A lander called Odysseus will also be launched on Wednesday as a private company project that it hopes will be more successful than Peregrine.
Just over a month ago, the latest American attempt to return to the moon's surface failed. Despite high expectations, the mission, which was created with the participation of private capital, was unable to fulfill its mission due to a technical malfunction after launch, so it returned to Earth and was destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
As we found out on Sunday, after the fiasco in November, Elon Musk is preparing to go to the moon again in the near future, and now it seems that someone else is still on the stage, not discouraged by the Astrobotic fiasco with Peregrine. Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander will lift off at 7 a.m. local time tomorrow to land on the celestial body's surface on February 22.
Thus, depending on the current situation, Odysseus – or Odyssey – may be the first American device to land on our moon after the end of the Apollo program in 1972. The lander will reach the object 350 thousand kilometers away using the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, according to plans.
After reaching Earth orbit, as usual, the device separates from the carrier rocket and continues to move in the same direction. Audi is scheduled to attempt a landing on the moon eight days later, making him the first to land there as part of a non-governmental project.
Odysseus is scheduled to land near the moon's south pole, after which he will theoretically have a full week to complete his planned tasks before lunar night. During fourteen days of darkness and extreme cold, down to -180 degrees, the device enters a ground-controlled hibernation state.
You can follow the launch live on NASA+.
