{"id":777440,"date":"2024-02-19T05:26:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T10:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=777440"},"modified":"2024-02-19T05:26:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T10:26:59","slug":"intuitive-machines-hopes-to-make-first-private-sector-moon-landing-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=777440","title":{"rendered":"Intuitive Machines hopes to make first private sector moon landing : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Feb. 15, 2024. The rocket is carrying Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander on its way to the moon, with a planned Feb. 22 touchdown. \n <\/p>\n
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Feb. 15, 2024. The rocket is carrying Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander on its way to the moon, with a planned Feb. 22 touchdown.<\/p>\n
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John Raoux\/AP<\/p>\n
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Another American company is having a go at getting the U.S. back to the moon.<\/p>\n
An uncrewed lunar lander that launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., last week is scheduled to land near the moon’s south pole on Thursday. <\/p>\n
The lander, named Odysseus, comes from the Houston company Intuitive Machines, and was sent on its lunar path by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n
If all goes smoothly, Intuitive Machines would be the first private company to reach the moon. It would also be the first American lunar landing in more than 50 years. <\/p>\n
It’s all part of a new front in the space race, this time between private companies attempting to get to the moon, and toward NASA’s bigger goal of expanding the possibilities of otherworldly exploration. <\/p>\n
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