Odysseus Lander Marks First US Moon Landing Since 1972
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander touched down in the moon's South Pole region on Thursday, marking the first U.S. trip to the moon since 1972.
The Details: Mission control was initially unsure of whether Odysseus reached the moon intact. Upon landing, the spacecraft only produced a weak signal back to mission control, and flight controllers took several hours to establish a better connection. Data from Odysseus began to come in roughly two hours after it landed.
For Context: The spacecraft is designed to operate for seven days on solar energy before the sun sets over its landing site. It will study weather and other aspects of the environment to explore the viability of future moon landings. Odysseus was sent to the moon last week on a SpaceX rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum covered the news as a top story Friday. Stories from left- and center-rated sources often mentioned the issues with the landing more prominently than stories from right-rated sources did. Reuters (Center bias) highlighted "questions about whether the vehicle may have been left impaired or obstructed in some way." The Associated Press (Lean Left bias) mentioned how Intuitive Machines "ended its live webcast soon after identifying a lone, weak signal from the lander."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Moon landing: US clinches first touchdown in 50 years
A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the moon's south pole on Thursday, the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector.
NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the landing as a major achievement in its goal of sending a squad of commercially flown spacecraft on scientific scouting missions to the moon ahead of a planned return of astronauts there later this decade.
But initial communications problems following...
From the Right
Private US lunar lander Odysseus touches down on the moon for first time since 1972
A private robotic rover touched down on the moon Thursday, becoming the first US spacecraft in more than 50 years to land on the lunar surface.
The landing of the vehicle, built by Intuitive Machines, also marked the first time in history a private company successfully pulled off the incredible feat.
The craft – dubbed Odysseus – landed some 250,000 miles away near the south pole of the moon around 6:23 p.m. ET — although communication between the rover and crews on the ground were weak, officials said.
“We’re evaluating how...
From the Left
Historic Odysseus moon mission marks a milestone in reaching the lunar surface
Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lander, also called Odysseus or “Odie,” is on the lunar surface after experiencing unexpected issues hours prior to landing.
“I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus announced on a live webcast. “Welcome to the moon.”
The company was able to confirm that mission control received signals from the lunar surface shortly after landing. But it wasn’t until two hours later that Intuitive Machines shared that the spacecraft was “upright and starting to send data,” according...
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