The Definitive Guide to the Private Moon Landing Expedition to Malapert A
The Future of Private Lunar Landings
Odysseus would aim for a landing spot the size of an American football field because Malapert A is comparatively level and safe to land on, according to Jack Burns, the principal investigator for one of the instruments onboard Odie, per Space.com. The spacecraft will mostly use onboard navigation software and real-time imagery during descent to modify its speed and softly touch down close to the crater. “It’s a new place to land,” Burns told the outlet. “I think Intuitive Machines has done everything it can to prepare.”
Landing Destination: The Original Location Changed
The second location selected for Odysseus’s expedition, known as IM-1, was Malapert A, according to Space.com. First, there was one in Oceanus Procellarum, the largest lunar basaltic plain and possible landing location for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era. However, due to concerns about polluting the area in the event that Odysseus crashed, Intuitive Machines relocated the landing place to Malapert A last year. “Landing near Malapert A also will help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from a location that is low on the lunar horizon,” NASA said in a statement.
Lessons from Past Attempts on the Moon
After a propellant leak destroyed the Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander during its launch last month, it crashed down to Earth. Both the Japanese Hakuto-R and Israeli Beresheet spacecraft crashed during their attempts to land on the moon in April 2023 and April 2019 respectively, after reaching lunar orbit.
What to Expect at the Landing Site
Odysseus is scheduled to land on the rim of Malapert A, a small crater located approximately 190 miles (300 km) from the lunar south pole on the side facing Earth if all proceeds as planned today. Since no private probe has ever made a soft landing on the moon, success would be historic.