The US launched the Odysseus. The Nova-C lander is heading towards the Moon
If no unexpected technical problems arise along the way, the Nova-C lander, also called “Odysseus”, will land on the Moon soon.
On Thursday, February 15, the Nova-C lunar lander was launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If everything goes according to plan, Odysseus will land in the Malapert crater on the Moon's south pole on February 22. This is the first attempt by the United States to land on the Silver Globe in over 50 years.
“Odysseus” flies to the Moon
The lander called Nova-C was created by Intuitive Machines from Houston, which – as the first private institution in history – was engaged by the American agency NASA in a mission to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
“Odysseus” was launched into orbit by another American company outside NASA – SpaceX, which used its own Falcon 9 rocket for this purpose. This only shows how important a role private enterprises play in the United States' space endeavors today.
During the flight lasting approximately one week, the Nova-C lander will cover 370,000 meters. kilometers to land near the Moon's south pole on February 22. Of course, nothing is certain yet, because, as usual in such cases, no one knows for sure what kind of problems may arise during such a space journey.
The US returns to the Moon
If all goes according to plan, it will be the first controlled descent of a US spacecraft to the lunar surface since the last manned Apollo mission in 1972. And this is only the initial stage of the large-scale, modern Artemis mission, under which the United States wants to land a man on the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.
