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India is set to celebrate its first <keyword id="22301946" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Space-Day" source="keywords">National Space Day</keyword> on August 23, 2024. In 2023, on this very day, <keyword id="20376714" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-3" source="keywords">Chandrayaan 3</keyword> accomplished the safe and soft landing of <keyword id="21074312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vikram-Lander" source="keywords">Vikram Lander</keyword> on the <keyword id="20381887" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lunar-surface" source="keywords">lunar surface</keyword>. India became the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to land near the southern polar region of the moon. The <keyword id="19909265" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Government" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Union Government" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Union Government">Union Government</keyword> has declared August 23rd as "National Space Day" to celebrate the remarkable success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, which accomplished a safe and soft landing of the Vikram Lander and deployed the <keyword id="22760272" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pragyaan-rover" source="keywords">Pragyaan rover</keyword> on the lunar surface near the South Pole. This achievement is being celebrated across the country with the goal of engaging and inspiring the younger generation in the field of <keyword id="21280701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Space-Science" source="keywords">Space Science</keyword> and Technology. To commemorate this historical achievement, the Department of Fisheries (DoF), <keyword id="19923385" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Government-of-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Government of India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Government of India">Government of India</keyword> (GoI), is organizing a series of seminars and demonstrations, to create awareness about the Application of Space Technologies in the Fisheries Sector. The events are being organized in collaboration with various coastal States and Union Territories, <keyword id="19915124" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ISRO" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ISRO" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="ISRO">ISRO</keyword> and DoF field offices. Earlier, the notification issued by the Department of Space said India became the first country to land near the South pole of the moon with the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission. "With the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission on August 23, 2023, with the landing of the Vikram lander and deployment of the Pragyaan Rover on the lunar surface, India joins an elite group of Space faring nations becoming the fourth country to land on the moon and the first nation to land near to South pole of the moon," said the notification. "The outcome of this historic mission will benefit mankind in the years to come," it added. The notification said the day marks an important milestone in the country's advancements in space missions, will inspire younger generations towards enhanced interest in pursuing <keyword id="19960286" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stem" source="keywords">STEM</keyword> and will provide a major impetus to the space sector. "The Government of India has declared August 23 of every year as 'National Space Day' to commemorate this historic moment," it said.

India set to celebrate first National Space Day on August 23

​10 missions before Chandrayaan-3 that define mankind’s quest to explore the moon ​

President Droupadi Murmu, on Friday visited an exhibition to showcase space technologies and achievements, at Bharat Mandapam, on the maiden <keyword id="22301946" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Space-Day" source="keywords">National Space Day</keyword>. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and <keyword id="19915124" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ISRO" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ISRO" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="ISRO">ISRO</keyword> Chairman S Somanath were also present. <keyword id="19939985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="President-Murmu" source="keywords">President Murmu</keyword> extended her greetings on the occasion of the first National Space Day and welcomed the decision to celebrate Space Day on the day <keyword id="19990220" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan" source="keywords">Chandrayaan</keyword> landed on the <keyword id="19899207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moon" source="keywords">Moon</keyword>. "It was a glorious moment for all the Indians when ISRO's Chandrayaan landed on the moon. I saw the live telecast of that moment, I was so proud that day like other Indians. To celebrate National Space Day on this occasion is a commendable step. I congratulate all of you on the first National Space Day. ISRO has achieved many feats since its inception". She also expressed her happiness with the student's participation in the event "Happy to see students' participation in this event." Highlighting the significance of <keyword id="19929542" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-exploration" source="keywords">space exploration</keyword>, she added "Space exploration has extended human's ability and help complete the imagination of humankind. Space exploration is exciting and challenging at the same time. Health, transportation, environment, energy, security and information technology are benefitted due to the growth in the <keyword id="20242397" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-sector" source="keywords">space sector</keyword>". The president termed the growth of the ISRO as extraordinary, "The growth of <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s space sector is extraordinary, be it Mangalyan mission that was accomplished through minimum resources or launching more than 100 satellites at a time. we have achieved many such feats". She also praised the introduction of private players in the space sector in the country, "Introducing of the private sector in Indian has led to the formation of many <keyword id="22829456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-start-ups" source="keywords">space start-ups</keyword> in India. This has allowed the youths of India to explore the space sector". Expressing her happiness about ISRO's plan to make <keyword id="20793131" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-mission" source="keywords">space mission</keyword> debris-free she said "I am happy that India is moving towards making India's space mission debris-free by 2030". India celebrated its first-ever National Space Day on Friday on the theme "Touching Lives While Touching the Moon: India's Space Saga". On 23 August 2023, India achieved a historic milestone when the Chandrayaan-3 lander completed a soft landing on the moon. This remarkable accomplishment made India the 4th country to accomplish this feat and the 1st to land on the lunar South Pole. In recognition of this achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared August 23 as National Space Day.

"A glorious moment for all Indians when Chandrayaan landed on moon" says President Murmu on National Space Day

New Delhi [India], July 14 (ANI): With only hours left for the lift-off, anticipation is building around the launch <keyword id="18004590" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indias-third-lunar-exploration-mission" source="Orion">India's third lunar exploration mission</keyword>, <keyword id="8011274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandrayaan-3" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3</keyword>, by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Friday. The GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, which will release the moon <keyword id="1609912" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lander" source="Orion">lander</keyword> and rover into space, will lift off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota at 2.30 pm. The countdown for the launch began on Thursday at 14:35:17 IST, ahead of the lift-off on Friday. Chandrayaan-3 will be ISRO's follow-up attempt after the <keyword id="229677" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandrayaan-2-mission" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-2 mission</keyword> faced challenges during its <keyword id="943223" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="soft-landing" source="Orion">soft landing</keyword> on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its mission objectives. The 'Launch Rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process was concluded earlier by the ISRO. Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, <keyword id="18004591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="a-rover-and-a-propulsion-module" source="Orion">a rover and a propulsion module</keyword>. It weighs around 3,900 kilograms. The ISRO's third lunar exploration mission is equipped with eight payloads. The experiments to be carried out by Chandrayan 3 include the Vikram lander (named after Space scientist Vikram Sarabhai) which will carry 4 instruments, Pragyan (Saanskrit for Wisdom) rover will carry two instruments and Propulsion Module or the Orbiter will carry one experiment. Vikram lander's experiments include Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure surface thermal properties, Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) to measure seismicity around the landing site, Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) to study the gas and plasma environment, and Passive laser retroreflector array provided by NASA for lunar ranging studies. While the Pragyan (Saanskrit for Wisdom) rover will carry two instruments to study the surface elemental composition - Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) that will help determine the elemental composition of the lunar soil and rocks around the landing site and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) which will conduct qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis in order to infer the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lunar surface. The Propulsion Module or the Orbiter will carry Spectropolarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) to study Earth's spectral and polarimetric measurements from lunar orbit. This helps scientists analyse the reflected light from exoplanets and determine whether they would qualify for habitability. The journey from Earth to the moon for the spacecraft is estimated to take about a month and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth. K Sivan, former director of ISRO, told that the success of mission Chandrayan-3 will give a morale boost to programmes like Gaganyan, India's first manned space mission. Chandrayaan-3's development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned sometime in 2021, but the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission's progress. The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, launched in 2008, was the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface. Data mined by the rover then also revealed their enhanced abundance towards the polar region. The primary science objective of the mission was to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both the near and far sides of the Moon and to conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under ISRO had said. Moon serves as a repository of the Earth's past and a successful lunar mission by India will help enhance life on Earth while also enabling it explore the rest of the solar system and beyond. Director of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), S Somanath, said earlier that if everything goes well, the spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23. The date has been decided based on the sunrise on the moon, he said, adding that if it gets delayed, the landing may take place next month. (ANI)

Chandrayaan-3 mission: Only hours left for the lift-off

Moscow [<keyword id="6358826" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>], August 11 (ANI): Russia on Friday launched Luna 25, the country's first lunar mission in 47 years. Luna-25 took off from the Vostochny launch facility in Russia's <keyword id="376432" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="far-east" source="Orion">Far East</keyword>, Russia-based TASS news agency reported. Launched aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket, Luna 25 took flight at 8:10 am (local time) on Friday, CNN reported. The Fregat booster separated from the rocket's third stage approximately 564 seconds after the launch, according to TASS reported. The Luna-25 spacecraft will separate from the booster about an hour after the launch. The flight to the moon will take up to 5.5 days. The spacecraft will spend between three and seven days about 100 kilometres above the lunar surface before reaching the Boguslawsky crater area. Meanwhile, <keyword id="18361345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manzinus-and-pentland-a" source="Orion">Manzinus and Pentland-A</keyword> craters have been named as alternative landing sites. The primary goal of the mission will be to polish the soft landing technology. The mission might become the first spacecraft ever to reach near the South Pole of the Earth's natural satellite, according to TASS. The spacecraft will look for natural resources, including water, and analyse the effects of space rays and electromagnetic emissions on the lunar surface. Luna 25, also called the Luna-Glob-Lander, will study the composition of the moon's polar soil and the plasma and dust contained in the very thin lunar exosphere, or the moon's scant atmosphere, for one year. The lander has several cameras and they will make timelapse footage of the landing and an HDR wide-angle image of the moonscape. Luna-25 will turn its cameras during pre-programmed periods and after a signal from the Earth, TASS reported. <keyword id="107353" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-aeronautics-and-space-administration" source="Orion">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</keyword> (NASA) in the statement said, "The lander has a four-legged base containing the landing rockets and propellant tanks, an upper compartment holds the solar panels, communication equipment, on-board computers, and most of the science apparatus." According to the statement released by NASA, the lander has a 1.6 meter-long Lunar Robotic Arm (LRA, or <keyword id="18361344" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lunar-manipulator-complex" source="Orion">Lunar Manipulator Complex</keyword>) to remove and gather the surface regolith to depths of 20 to 30 cm. The LRA is equipped with a scoop (175 cubic cm volume) and a sample acquisition tool, a 4.7 cm long tube with an internal diameter of 1.25 cm. It's keenly watched around the world as Europe and America work to isolate Russia amid the war in Ukraine, and as Russia tries to strengthen its political and economic ties with non-Western countries in response. (ANI)

Russia launches Luna-25 mission to Moon, its first lunar lander in 47 years 

Mumbai, Of the 111 lunar missions in the last seven decades, 62 were successful, 41 failed and eight achieved partial success, according to the US space agency <keyword id="18017957" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASAs-database-on-Moon" source="Orion">NASA's database on Moon</keyword> missions. India on Friday launched its third mission to the Moon, <keyword id="8011274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-3" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3</keyword>, with an aim to soft land on the surface of Earth's only natural satellite. A successful landing would make India the fourth country to achieve the rare feat after the United States, China and the erstwhile USSR. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the technically challenging soft landing on the lunar surface, which Chandrayaan-2 could not achieve, has been planned for 5.47 pm on August 23. Former <keyword id="648399" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ISRO-chairman-G-Madhavan-Nair" source="Orion">ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair</keyword> said the success rate of lunar missions is nearly 50 per cent because of the uncertainties when the rockets leave Earth's gravitational field. "The influence of other planets, from the Sun, is quite a bit. A lot of radiation conditions exist in space and this leaves some equipment or components prone to failure. In India's both missions (Chandrayaan 1 and 2), we have precisely reached the moon's orbit," Nair told PTI on Friday. From 1958 to 2023, India as well as the US, the USSR (now Russia), Japan, the European Union, China and Israel have launched different lunar missions - from orbiters, landers and flyby (orbiting the Moon, landing on the Moon and flying by the Moon), as per the data. The first mission to the Moon - Pioneer 0 - was launched by the US on August 17, 1958, though it was unsuccessful. Six more missions were launched by the USSR and the US in the same year, but all failed. Luna 1, launched by the USSR on January 2, 1959, achieved partial success. It was also the first 'Moon flyby' mission. The Ranger 7 mission launched in July 1964 by the US was the first to take close-up pictures of the Moon. The first lunar soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface came from Luna 9, launched by the USSR in January 1966. Five months later, in May 1966, the US successfully launched a similar mission named Surveyor-1. The Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 was the landmark expedition through which humans stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time. The three-crewed mission was headed by Neil Amstrong. From 1958 to 1979, only the US and the USSR launched Moon missions. In these 21 years, the two countries launched 90 such space expeditions. There was a lull in the decade that followed with no lunar missions from 1980-89. Japan, the European Union, China, India and Israel were late entrants. Japan launched Hiten, an orbiter mission in January 1990. This was also Japan's first Moon mission. After that, in September 2007, Japan launched Selene, another orbiter mission. There were six lunar missions from 2000-2009 - Europe (Smart-1), Japan (Selene), China (Chang'e 1), India (Chandrayaan-1) and the US (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCCROSS). Since 1990, the US, Japan, India, the European Union, China and Israel have collectively launched 21 lunar missions.

Success rate of lunar missions is a little over 50% as per NASA database

Projected to last only days, the first crewed test flight of <keyword id="19915275" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Boeing" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Boeing">Boeing</keyword>'s <keyword id="20138728" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="starliner" source="keywords">Starliner</keyword> <keyword id="19982902" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spacecraft" source="keywords">spacecraft</keyword> with two <keyword id="20038917" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="astronauts" source="keywords">astronauts</keyword> onboard is in limbo with no exact return to Earth announced. <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s <keyword id="20430894" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-Program" source="keywords">Commercial Crew Program</keyword> manager, Steve Stich has said that the US space agency is considering extending the duration of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days, CNN reported. Officials have repeatedly hinted that the Starliner, which faced issues with helium leaks and thruster outages heading to the International <keyword id="20073557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-station" source="keywords">Space Station</keyword> in early June, will be safe to bring astronauts including indian-origin Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Butch Wilmore home. On Friday, Stich said that NASA is considering extending the maximum length of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days and there is no firm return date on the horizon, according to CNN report. Addressing a briefing on Friday, the NASA official said, "We're just looking at the timeline to execute (the test in New Mexico) and then review the data." He further said, "And that's what's really the long pole, I would say, determining a landing date." Stich added, "We're not in a rush to come home." Part of that desired extension is due to the ground tests that Boeing and NASA plan to conduct in New Mexico, seeking to better understand why some of the Starliner's thrusters unexpectedly failed during the first leg of its journey. Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of the Commercial Crew Program for Boeing, also said that engineers are still not certain about the reason behind the Starliner's problems. Nappi said that part of the aim is conducting the ground tests while the vehicle is still in space is to try to whittle down possible reasons why the thrusters malfunctioned. Mark Nappi said, "So, if (the test in New Mexico) comes back and gives us all the answers, then we can just undock and come home." He added, "If it comes back and says, 'Here's 80 per cent of the answer. And if you just run one more docked hot fire (test on the Starliner in orbit), then you can get 100 per cent of the answers' -- then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can get that information." Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore have integrated with the rest of the crew currently aboard the International Space Station and are conducting routine tasks. Several more helium leaks were identified while the craft was heading to the International Space Station, along with the thruster issues. The Starliner's service module, a cylindrical attachment at the bottom of the spacecraft that provides much of the vehicle's power during flight, faced several issues, CNN reported. As per the design, the service module will not survive the return to Earth. The module is jettisoned and destroyed as the Starliner spacecraft reenters the atmosphere and that's the reason why Boeing and NASA teams then opted to leave the Starliner spacecraft safely docked with the space station while they worked to learn as much as possible about those issues. It is not clear yet whether NASA will extend the maximum mission length to 90 days. Stich said officials must clear the battery life of the Starliner for that purpose. Although he noted that the batteries are being recharged at the space station, they should operate the same way after 90 days as they will for the first 45 days. The spaceflight industry frequently experiences cost overruns, delays and unmet deadlines. However, Boeing has faced challenges that have stood out, particularly when the Starliner program is directly compared with SpaceX's Crew Dragon, CNN reported. Crew Dragon, which falls under the same NASA Commercial Crew Program for astronaut transportation, completed its first test flight in 2020 and has been carrying out routine missions ever since. SpaceX did not have the benefit of designing the Crew Dragon spacecraft off the back of its Cargo Dragon vehicle, which for years sent supplies to the International Space Station before its successor started operating while Boeing designed Starliner from scratch. Nappi said, "We've got a really good test flight that's been accomplished so far, and it's being viewed rather negatively." In the latest update regarding the ongoing space mission, the Expedition 71 crew members on Friday packed a US cargo craft, cleaned up the International Space Station, studied techniques of futuristic piloting, and carried out eye exams. NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts spent the day reconfiguring a space botany facility. In its live blog, NASA stated, " Robotics controllers are scheduled to detach the Cygnus space freighter from the Unity module on July 12 and release it into Earth orbit for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean ending a five-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab." NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent most of the time on Friday on loading trash and discarding gear inside the Cygnus with assistance from fellow NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C Dyson. Canadarm2 robotic arm captured the Cygnus on February 1, with more than 8200 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies. Epps operated standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist's office on Earth and peered into Dyson's eyes. She examined the cornea, retina, and lens of Dyson to help flight surgeons understand and counteract microgravity's effect on crew vision. Earlier, Dyson collected and stowed excess space station hardware for disposal. During the day, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt routed cables and reprogrammed communications systems inside the Columbus laboratory module. He stowed hardware and components used earlier in the week for advanced orbital plumbing in the Tranquility module's bathroom. Mike Barratt refilled supply kits in Columbus' two Human Research Facility racks with biomedical gear, including sample tubes and needles. On Friday, Starliner's Commander and Pilot, Butch Wilmore and <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> in Kibo conducted space botany work. They removed the Plant Habitat growth chamber from Kibo's EXPRESS rack, replaced its camera and carbon dioxide sensors, then reinstalled the research device. In the liveblog, NASA said, "NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner's propulsion system performance before returning to Earth from the orbiting lab. NASA and Boeing leaders participated in a media teleconference today to discuss Starliner and station operations." "NASA is now targeting the end of July for the next spacewalk outside the space station. This change allows teams on the ground to continue to troubleshoot and understand the water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit that forced an early end to a spacewalk on Monday, June 24," it added. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques future crew members and conducted two sessions of an investigation exploring ways to create new materials on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin worked throughout the day inventorying medical kits and cleaning fans inside the Rassvet module and Station Commander Oleg Kononenko replaced thermal components in Roscosmos' life support hardware.

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams onboard could wait months in space before return as NASA mulls extending mission duration

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA and Intuitive Machines' <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-intuitive-machines-moon-landing-attempt-after-astrobotic-fail-2024-2">IM-1 mission</a> landed on the moon on Thursday.</li><li>This is NASA's first return to the lunar surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972.</li></ul>An American moon lander touched down on the lunar surface for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">first time in more than 50 years</a> on Thursday.The uncrewed Odysseus lander, made by the Houston company Intuitive Machines in collaboration with NASA, claimed a major victory not just for the US but for the space industry at large: It's the first commercial spacecraft to ever <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-moon-landings-on-lunar-south-pole-crashed-2023-8">land on the moon without crashing</a>. The past five years have racked up a series of failed moon landings — by Russia, India, Japan, an Israeli nonprofit, a Japanese company, and, just last month, the NASA collaborator <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astrobotic-moon-lander-leaking-fuel-after-launch-threatening-mission-2024-1">Astrobotic</a>. Everyone is scrambling to get their feet on the moon in a new race to claim lunar territory and resources.The success of Odysseus brings NASA and its commercial partners, finally, to the front of the 21st century's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">mad moon dash</a>.There were some initial complications in the landing. When the spacecraft touched down on the moon, it stopped communication with mission control.<div type="image" title="Illustration of Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft attempting moon landing" height="604" width="1094" msid="107926875" hostid="261"></div>"We're not dead yet," the mission director, Tim Crain, said on NASA's livestream of the landing. "It's faint, but it's there."A couple of hours later, however, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760838333851148442">Intuitive Machines</a> announced on X it had established communications and learned the spacecraft had landed upright on the moon."After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data. Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface," the private company wrote on X.<h2>The Odysseus lander's odyssey so far</h2>Odysseus launched atop a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a> rocket on February 14, carrying 12 payloads — six of them belonging to private companies and six of them science experiments for NASA.The spacecraft traveled 620,000 miles to aim for its destination: a crater in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientist-microbial-life-hiding-on-moon-south-pole-2023-6">moon's south pole</a>.On Thursday, however, the landing was delayed about 45 minutes after the lander's navigation system failed.Intuitive Machines mission controllers scrambled to upload software patches that instructed the lander to instead use a system of navigation lasers that NASA had loaded on board. The NASA laser system was meant to be a demo to see whether the technology even worked — not to guide the landing on its own.As Odysseus plummeted to the lunar surface and tilted itself to point the lasers toward the lunar surface to map it out, everything seemed to be going well. But the lander fell out of communication in the final moments of its descent to the lunar surface.Intuitive Machines mission control reported that it was receiving pings from the lander, which meant it touched down at about 6:24 p.m. ET, intact and alive.It's unclear whether the touchdown issues were related to the navigation-system failure.<h2>A race to the moon's south pole</h2>The IM-1 mission was designed to get NASA and Intuitive Machines closer to the moon's south pole than anyone had ever been before.The US — along with its commercial and international allies — is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-china-race-to-the-moon-photos-launches-2022-11">racing against China and Russia</a> to establish a permanent base in this lunar region. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientists-discover-moons-hidden-water-stores-2020-10">moon's south pole</a> is so coveted because it contains water frozen in its permanently shadowed craters. In theory, NASA (and anyone else who claims a crater) could use that water to produce fresh rocket fuel from their lunar base.With that fuel, astronauts could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-made-oxygen-out-of-thin-air-on-mars-2023-9">launch toward Mars</a> from the surface of the moon.Adding a lunar pitstop to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-seeking-applicants-mars-simulation-habitat-live-year-2024-2">mission to Mars</a> would mean the spacecraft doesn't have to leave Earth with all the fuel required to make it to the red planet.Until now, only <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-moon-rover-to-collect-first-samples-lunar-south-pole-2023-8">India</a> had solidly landed in the moon's south-pole region.<h2>Landing on the moon is tricky and expensive</h2>Landing on the moon is no easy feat. The US isn't the only nation to have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-moon-lander-peregrine-burn-up-earth-atmosphere-satellite-astrobotic-2024-1">tried and failed</a> in previous attempts.India found success several years after crashing during its first attempt. Russia's lunar lander was destroyed in a crash in August, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-moon-probe-landed-upside-down-still-works-2024-1">Japan's landed upside down</a> in January.<div type="image" title="The IM-1 mission spacecraft floating in space with Earth in the background." height="945" width="1260" msid="107926876" hostid="261"></div>"Spaceflight is hard. A million things have to go right, and if one thing goes wrong, you can still have a failure," Trent Martin, the vice president of Intuitive Machines' space systems, said during a NASA press briefing last month.In fact, only about 50% of lunar landing missions succeed. While technology has advanced a lot since Apollo, the moon's treacherous terrain and distance from Earth make failure pretty likely.<h2>Space exploration goes commercial</h2>The IM-1 mission is part of NASA's new deep-space strategy.Through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, the government space agency can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">outsource spacecraft design to private companies</a>, such as Intuitive Machines.The idea is that companies build the hardware, and NASA hitches a ride, saving taxpayer money and giving the agency more options.IM-1 wasn't the first time NASA has done this. For its last lunar-landing attempt in January, NASA partnered with the Pittsburgh company Astrobotic Technology to send its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-moon-lander-peregrine-burn-up-earth-atmosphere-satellite-astrobotic-2024-1">Peregrine spacecraft</a> to the moon. But the mission didn't succeed.<div type="image" title="Earth photographed by the Intuitive Machines' Odysseus moon lander." height="945" width="1260" msid="107926877" hostid="261"></div>NASA has several CLPS missions scheduled over the next two years, including two more with Intuitive Machines.In Intuitive Machines' next mission, its spacecraft is scheduled to launch toward the moon's south pole again in 2024, this time to deliver a drill designed to dig down into a ridge near the Shackleton crater to look for ice.Even later this year, a different Intuitive Machines spacecraft is scheduled to head to the western edge of the moon's near side. In that mission, it's targeting a specific geographic feature named a "lunar swirl" that has a localized magnetic field.So NASA and Intuitive Machines have officially put the new commercial lunar era in swing, and they're just getting started.

You Searched For "LUNAR MISSION" and got 8 results

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You Searched For "LUNAR MISSION" and got 8 results

India set to celebrate first National Space Day on August 23

ANI

​10 missions before Chandrayaan-3 that define mankind’s quest to explore the moon ​

Anagh Pal

"A glorious moment for all Indians when Chandrayaan landed on moon" says President Murmu on National Space Day

ANI

Chandrayaan-3 mission: Only hours left for the lift-off

ANI

Russia launches Luna-25 mission to Moon, its first lunar lander in 47 years

ANI

Success rate of lunar missions is a little over 50% as per NASA database

PTI

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams onboard could wait months in space before return as NASA mulls extending mission duration

ANI

NASA is back on the moon with the first commercial lunar landing ever

Ellyn Lapointe,Morgan McFall-…

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

10 missions before Chandrayaan-3 that define mankind’s quest to explore the moon