WATCH: Odysseus becomes first US spacecraft to land on moon in over 50 years

WATCH: Odysseus becomes first US spacecraft to land on moon in over 50 years
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 23/02/2024

- 00:08

Updated: 23/02/2024

- 08:46

US robotic spacecraft has landed on the moon

A US robotic spacecraft named Odysseus has landed on the moon successfully in a major step for space exploration.

The NASA payload will collect data on weather interactions with the moon's surface, radio astronomy, and other aspects of the lunar environment for future landers and NASA's planned return of astronauts later this decade.

The spacecraft has no crew onboard, and reportedly reached the orbit on Wednesday, six days after it was launched.

Odysseus reportedly arrived at a landing site near a crater called Malapert A, close to the moon’s south pole and is now transmitting but the signal is weak.

On the live stream, NASA confirmed: "What we can confirm without a doubt is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting. So congratulations team. We'll see how much more we can get from that."

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