U.S. company Intuitive Machines will attempt today to become the first private company to land on the Moon. Landing target time is 5:30 PM EST. is carrying a number of NASA experiment packages. The NASA broadcast is scheduled to start at 4:00 PM EST.

blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2024/02

BREAKING ... Intuitive Machines on Zombie Twitter says they adjusted orbit overnight to move up today's lunar landing attempt. They're now targeting 4:24 PM EST / 1:24 PM PST.

The NASA live coverage now begins at 3:00 PM EST / 12:00 PM PST at this YouTube link.

youtube.com/watch?v=Dg2ffigGcY

BREAKING ... Intuitive Machines flight controllers have decided to fly one more orbit before attempting an landing. The new targeted landing time is 6:24 PM EST / 3:24 PM PST. The NASA webcast will now begin at 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST.

youtube.com/watch?v=Dg2ffigGcY

BREAKING ... The NASA webcast of the Intuitive Machines lunar lander attempt is scheduled to begin in ten minutes at 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST, at the link. Landing is targeting 6:24 PM EST / 3:24 PM PST.

youtube.com/watch?v=Dg2ffigGcY

Here's the web site for Intuitive Machines, the U.S. company about to attempt the first commercial robotic landing on the surface of the Moon. (1/2)

intuitivemachines.com/

Here's the web site for the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which has been issuing contracts to U.S. private companies to demonstrate the capability to robotically deliver payloads to the lunar surface, part of Project .

This is the natural successor to NASA's commercial cargo and crew programs over the last decade. (2/2)

nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payl

launched on February 15, 2024 at 1:05 AM EST from Launch Complex 39A, atop a .

This is the launch video, indexed to T-1 minute. If the link doesn't take you there, T-1:00 is at the 54:18 mark.

youtube.com/live/CvdgoX-3WOM?s

An ancestor of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program is NextSTEP, which began in 2014 during the administration. The idea was to seek "commercial development of new capabilities for human missions in deep space."

Here we are, ten years later, and a successor to this pioneer program is about to attempt a robotic lunar landing.

More about NextSTEP at the link.

nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nexts

Not to be a Debbie Downer / Gloomy Gus / Eeyore / pick your analogy, but a reminder that is a demonstration mission. The private sector is allowed to fail, to help us move faster overall with the goal of bringing down the cost as well as advancing the U.S. space industry.

Hopefully all goes well, but remember that failure is an option. Other companies will be attempting their own landings in the future.

BREAKING reports there's a problem with the navigation systems, so the lunar lander will use the sensors on NASA's Navigation Doppler LIDAR mounted on the lander.

Public-Private Partnership at its best!

LIDAR is an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging.

Here's a February 5 NASA article about the Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL). Expect the commentators to refer to NDL in the webcast.

nasa.gov/centers-and-facilitie

This 90-second NASA video about NDL was uploaded to YouTube on February 5. This is the system will use to attempt lunar landing, targeting 6:24 PM EST.

The NASA webcast just said the the default navigation system "is not working."

youtube.com/watch?v=xjx3XhHouK

Anyone who's seen the "Apollo 13" movie knows that the crew used the lunar module as a lifeboat. The LM's descent engine became the primary engine for burns to return to Earth.

is about to use NASA's NDR backup landing navigation test system to replace the lander's non-functioning navigation system.

Steely eyed missile people!

From : NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says the descent burn is targeting 6:00 PM EST, with a landing targeting 6:24 PM EST. If they have to wave off, the next try would be at about 8:30 PM EST. "But that would be the last chance that they would have to land."

(Unclear to me if he means the last chance tonight, or the last chance period.)

cnn.com/us/live-news/nasa-odys

Five minutes until the landing burn. Last chance to go pee. πŸ˜‰

Fun fact ... space reporter Kristin Fisher is the daughter of former NASA astronaut Anna Fisher, the first "mother in space."

The landing burn has begun. As the webcast is reporting, is an "autonomous lunar lander."

On the telecast, former NASA Mae Jemison astronaut is providing commentary along with William Shatner, who spends a lot more time behind the scenes with NASA people than you might suspect. πŸ˜‰

Intuitive Machines reports all is nominal with . Less than six minutes until targeted landing time.

Telemetry shows that is searching for a landing site. Altitude is 1,000 meters.

Keep in mind that the lander is landing at the south pole of the Moon. This isn't as easy a transmission site as the Apollo era, when they were all around the equator facing towards Earth.

It's possible they landed "off angle." Data show a slight roll just before landing.

"We have a return signal that we're tracking."

"We do have signal that we're tracking."

There's a backup signal that's supposed to kick in after 15 minutes, to switch antenna pairs.

Space

"We're picking up a signal from our high gain antenna. It's faint, but it's there."

Space

This is a personal hobby horse of mine. We need to put a like constellation in orbit around the Moon so problems like this won't exist any more.

Space

"We can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the Moon, and we are transmitting."

Space

"We are on the Moon. We are transmitting. Welcome to the Moon."

NASA and Intuitive Machines have ended their webcast.

The world has changed. Humanity did something good today. 😘

From : "CNN is standing by for additional updates on the spacecraft's status."

We still have a lot to learn. Is it fully upright? Is it in a crater? Is it leaning into a crater? Did a landing strut collapse? Etc., etc., etc.

But as I advised upstream, this was a demonstration flight. They proved they could do it.

tonight on the first commercial lunar landing, with commentary by Miles O'Brien (the journalist, not the Starfleet guy).

youtube.com/watch?v=gKYmPpVsmf

BREAKING From Intuitive Machines on Zombie Twitter:

"After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data.
Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface."

Calling it a night ... If you want to watch the NASA Intuitive Machines coverage of tonight's historic launch, here's the link:

youtube.com/watch?v=eWyUg7hfx7

From Intuitive Machines on Zombie Twitter:

*****

Lunar Surface Day One Update (23FEB2024 0818 CST)

Odysseus is alive and well. Flight controllers are communicating and commanding the vehicle to download science data. The lander has good telemetry and solar charging.

We continue to learn more about the vehicle’s specific information (Lat/Lon), overall health, and attitude (orientation). (1/2)

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus will participate in a press conference later today to discuss this historic moment. Press conference information will be coordinated with NASA and published shortly. (2/2)

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@WordsmithFL

I suppose the other, less desirable possibility is a "spacecraft outage."

@WordsmithFL
Tumbled?
Any optical options for the projected landing site?

@pendrag NASA has the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in orbit that could photograph the orbiter one day, to determine what happened.

@WordsmithFL

Thanks for sharing this. We would have totally missed it. πŸ˜πŸš€

@KazzyH Thank you. I'm rendering the webcast now and will upload it later this evening.

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