If all goes to plan, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft will attempt a lunar landing Thursday, returning America to the moon’s surface for the first time in 52 years.
Flight controllers said Wednesday that the lander “continues to be in excellent health” ahead of a landing attempt planned for Thursday evening.
A successful touchdown would make the Houston-based space company the first commercial enterprise to ever land a spacecraft on the moon. It would also be the first American moon landing since NASA’s Apollo program came to an end in 1972.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be in the control center to witness history potentially being made. Here’s how to watch as the Odysseus lander, named for the hero of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” attempts to make it to the moon’s surface.
Sun-devouring black hole:Astronomers believe a newly-discovered quasar with a black hole at its center may be brightest object in universe
What time is the spacecraft expected to land on the moon?
The landing attempt is expected to happen at 6:24 p.m. EST.
Intuitive Machines had initially expected the landing to take place closer to 5:30 p.m. EST, before flight controllers decided to have the lander do another orbit of the moon.
How to watch the moon mission
Intuitive Machines has previously indicated that the landing will be streamed on the company’s IM-1 mission landing page and YouTube channel.
NASA, the mission’s primary customer, will also provide a stream of the landing, with coverage now beginning at 5 p.m. EST on NASA TV, NASA+ and the NASA app, according to a press release.
Odysseus entered lunar orbit Wednesday
When Odysseus lifted off a week ago on a SpaceX rocket, the 14-foot-tall Nova-C lander reached its intended orbit within about 48 minutes and established communication with ground control in Houston, Intuitive Machines previously said. Odysseus aced a crucial engine firing test Friday and succeeded in orienting itself in the direction of the moon as it powered ahead.
After entering lunar orbit Wednesday, Odysseus remains about 57 miles above the moon’s surface, according to Intuitive Machines.
The spacecraft will attempt a landing near the moon’s south polar region, an area long intriguing to scientists due to the suspected presence of water ice thought to be abundant within its craters.
Columbus Sportswear takes over Vegas sphere
Intuitive Machines built the Odysseus spacecraft to carry cargo for NASA and other customers to the lunar surface for its IM-1 mission.
As the primary customer for the Odysseus mission, NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to take its scientific payloads to the moon as it prepares to send astronauts back to the lunar surface for its since-delayed Artemis program
The U.S. space agency has a budget of $2.6 billion in contracts available through 2028 to pay private companies to place scientific payloads on private robotic landers like Odysseus bound for the lunar surface. If Intuitive Machines can pull off the mission, it would open the door for NASA to work with more commercial entities on future space endeavors.
But Intuitive Machines also is serving customers like Columbia Sportswear, which is testing a metallic jacket fabric as a thermal insulator on the lander. Ahead of the landing attempt, Columbia Sportswear took over the exterior of the Las Vegas sphere on Monday to advertise the partnership and their products, according to a press release.
“Columbia is focused on developing and testing new technologies in challenging environments and our ongoing partnership with Intuitive Machines has the potential to drive even more innovation for our brand,” the company’s Brand President Joe Boyle said in a statement.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]