The Odysseus lander will land on the lunar surface next Thursday

The Odysseus module of the company Intuitive Machines, which took off last Thursday from Florida heading to the Moonsuccessfully continues its space journey and is expected to land on the moon next Thursday, which will become, if successful, the first private mission of USA to land on our natural satellite.

Intuitive Machines, based in Houston (Texas), indicated this Monday on its social networks that the Odysseus lander “continues to enjoy good health” and the “planned trajectory correction maneuvers for its insertion into orbit are already being prepared.” mole”.

If everything goes as planned, Odysseus will land on the lunar surface this Thursday, which will mark the return of the United States to this satellite in more than half a century.

The IM-1 mission, loaded with scientific instruments and technological demonstrations, will land on the south pole of the Moon, a region that remains unexplored.

The objective of the POT in its work with private companies is to prepare the ground for the return of astronauts, planned within the Artemis program, no earlier than 2026.

After landing, the idea is that operations there will extend for about seven days before lunar night arrives at the south pole, leaving Odysseus inoperable.

Specifically, the moon landing will take place in the vicinity of the Malapert massif, about 300 kilometers from the south pole of the Moon, an area full of “uncertainty,” according to NASA experts.

Researchers believe the area is composed of lunar highland material, similar to the Apollo 16 landing site.

This is the second mission of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, after Peregrine, which failed to reach the lunar surface.

According to Intuitive Machines, the mission seeks to create an economical platform that will carry NASA scientific instruments to the Moon, as well as commercial cargo, to pave the way for a sustainable human presence on that natural satellite and its surroundings.

The landing site is one of 13 regions NASA is considering for the Artemis III mission, which will be that program’s first crewed moon landing mission and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander. SpaceX.