Intuitive Machines Is First Commercial Operator Conducting Lunar Surface Communication and Exploration
Human enterprise is active on the Moon for the first time, with the Nova-C class lander Odysseus now in communication with ground controllers at IM Mission Control in Houston TX via Goonhilly Station in UK following 5:24 CST (23:24 UTC) soft landing touchdown near Malapert A crater; NASA Director hails CLPS ‘cosmic bridge’ of public-private cooperation that led to commercial Moon mission carrying 6 NASA and 6 independent payloads including Astronomy from the Moon precursor ILO-X, which will conduct the first imaging of the luminous Milky Way band in visible spectra; Intuitive Machines founder Kam Ghaffarian looking forward to achieving ‘daily trips to the Moon’ while envisioning interstellar travel as ‘ultimate destiny for humanity’