Odysseus" lander

First commercial moon landing: Pictures are here!

First commercial moon landing: "Nova-C" lander sent pictures(Bild: AP)

A few days after the first successful commercial moon landing, the "Odysseus" lander has sent pictures of the surface of the Earth's satellite for the first time. On Monday, the company Intuitive Machines published several images taken by "Odysseus" during the landing on Friday night, showing the surface of the moon, among other things.

The images confirmed, among other things, that "Odysseus" landed within 1.5 kilometers of the originally targeted landing site in a crater called "Malapart A" - and is therefore further south on the moon than any other spacecraft. Scientists believe there are numerous mineral resources in the area.

Lander communicates with control center
The lander is still communicating with the control center. Data will now be collected until the sun can no longer reach the landing site and the solar batteries can no longer be charged.

(Bild: AP)

(Bild: AP)

Last week, the "Nova-C" lander, nicknamed "Odysseus" or "Ody", was the first US device to land on the moon for more than 50 years. However, according to Intuitive Machines, "Odysseus" probably tipped over during touchdown and is now lying on its side. However, data could still be collected.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Intuitive Machines/Handout)

The "Nova-C" lander is about the size of an old-fashioned British telephone box, has aluminum legs, weighs around 700 kilograms and can carry around 130 kilograms of cargo. NASA has filled a large part of it with research equipment and other materials, while the rest has been secured mainly by commercial companies for their projects.

The mission is part of NASA's "CLPS" (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. With this program, the US space agency wants to gather as much knowledge as possible on its own way back to the moon comparatively cheaply and efficiently by awarding contracts for moon landings to private companies and working together with them.

Moon landings are considered to be technically highly demanding and often go wrong. This year alone, two planned landings have already gone differently than hoped.