Odysseus managed to land on the moon. It is the first American in 50 years and the first private vehicle on the Earth's natural satellite

The spacecraft Odysseus of Houston-based Intuitive Machines has successfully landed on the surface of the Moon. This is the first time a private company's spacecraft has landed on Earth's natural satellite, and it is the first American-made spacecraft to reach the Moon since the Apollo missions.

Your order was delivered… to the Moon! 📦@Int_Machines' uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon's surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis. pic.twitter.com/sS0poiWxrU

— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024

On board Odysseus were NASA instruments that, according to representatives of the space agency, will be used to prepare for future manned missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. NASA confirmed that the landing took place at 1:23 Kyiv time on February 23. The lander took off from Earth on February 15 using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

During the flight, some "technical problems" occurred, causing a delay in the landing for several hours, reports Engadget. Intuitive Machines' Technical Director Tim Crane said:

Odysseus is definitely on the Moon and operational, but it is currently unknown if the mission will achieve its goals. Odysseus has limited time — about a week — to transmit data to Earth before darkness falls and renders the spacecraft inoperative on its solar panels.

Intuitive Machines was not the first private company to attempt a landing. Last month, Astrobotic attempted a landing with its lander Peregrine, but it was unsuccessful. This year, Intuitive Machines plans to launch two more lunar spacecraft.