🚀Intuitive Machines makes history with lunar landing

Another week and another roll of the dice for a lunar lander mission.

This week, US private firm Intuitive Machines became the first private company to successfully land on the Moon. Not only that, its ‘Odysseus’ spacecraft is also the first US lander to reach the Moon in over 50 years. More on that below

And of course, Intuitive Machines isn’t the only company betting big on the space sector. Another US firm, Space Perspective, just revealed the biggest capsule ever built for space travel. And it’s attached to a balloon that will carry space tourists to the edge of space.

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AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SPOTLIGHT

The Intuitive IM-1 mission has taken the United States back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years

After a few nail-biting moments of radio silence, the Intuitive Machines team announced the successful landing to rapturous applause on the evening of February 22

lander to reach the Moon since the Apollo 17 lander way back in 1972, and it is only the second lander to ever touch down near the lunar south pole after India’s Chandrayaan-3 last year.

"What a triumph! Odysseus has taken the moon," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video message shortly after the news broke. "This feat is a giant leap forward for all of humanity. Stay tuned!"

Odysseus took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last week. It is one of several recent lunar lander missions to make its way to the Moon, including Russia’s Luna-25, India’s Chandrayaan-3, Peregrine Mission One, and Japan’s SLIM.

The difficulty of landing on the Moon has been highlighted by the fact that Russia’s Luna-25 and the private Peregrine Mission One recently failed to land on the Moon. Japan’s SLIM did make it, but it landed in an awkward position, reducing its capacity to capture sunlight with its solar panels.

Odysseus’ mission will last for 14 Earth days, or one lunar day. It will scope out the lunar south pole, which is believed to contain an abundance of water ice that could eventually be used to sustain future colonies

Last week we asked “Which country or space agency will fly a reusable rocket next?” here are the results

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 China(57%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ India (0%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Esa (15%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ NASA (28%)

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AERO BULLETIN

This week, US space tourism firm Space Perspective revealed images of its Spaceship Neptune test capsule, called Excelsior. The company says it is the largest human spaceflight capsule ever made, and it will allow it to safely fly paying customers to the edge of space.

Here are some of the companies aiming to democratize spaceflight – for the world’s richest people, that is.

Space Perspective

US-based firm Space Perspective is looking to lower the cost of Space Tourism compared to other offerings by using a space balloon. No rocket propellant means a safer flight and a lower-cost ticket at roughly $125,000 per passenger.

Zero2Infinity

Back in 2021, another space balloon company, Spain’s Zero2Infinity, conducted its first flight test of its prototype stratospheric passenger balloon, reaching an altitude of 108,409 feet. The company aims to carry passengers at a similar price range to Space Perspective.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s New Shepard space tourism service is the only offering in the world that can currently launch you on a vertical rocket and have you back on Earth within a few minutes. However, the rocket was recently grounded due to an anomaly during a scientific payload mission.

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are the two most established space tourism firms today. Sir Richard Branson’s company flies passengers to suborbital space aboard a spaceplane called VSS Unity. Though ticket prices vary, some reports have suggested they come to roughly $250,000.

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