The USA has landed on the moon – Swedish technology is on board the probe

SPACE

For the first time, a private probe has landed on the moon.
– I know this was a nail biter, but we are now on the surface of the moon and we have a transmitter signal, said the CEO of probe manufacturer Intuitive Machines after the landing.

The Odysseus probe – manufactured by Intuitive Machines and launched into space through a collaboration between Nasa and Elon Musk's company Space X – is the first American craft on the moon in more than 50 years.

However, it was unclear whether Intuitive Machines would succeed in the moon landing. The lasers that would be used to determine the distance to the moon during the actual landing had stopped working.

But on board the lunar lander Oddysseus there were, luckily, scientific instruments from Nasa. One of these called the Navigation Doppler Lidar experiment had what it took.

By sending software updates to the probe while it was in orbit around the moon, Intuitive Machines was able to redirect the function of the instrument to aid in the descent itself. This slightly delayed the lunar landing and the probe took an extra lap around the moon before decelerating to land.

At 00:39 on Friday night, Intuitive Machines announced in its live stream from the landing that their probe had completed the journey, landed on the moon and was sending a weak signal.

In the live broadcast from the landing, it was unclear for a couple of minutes if and how the probe reached the moon and where on the moon it landed because contact with the craft had been lost.

But a couple of minutes after the supposed landing time, the people in the control room could identify a signal, albeit weak, from the probe.

– We can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the moon, said the head of the mission, Tim Crain, while a slight concern had begun to spread in the control room in Houston.

Intuitive Machine CEO Steve Altemus also seemed relieved.

– I know this was a nail biter, but we are now on the surface of the moon and we have a transmitter signal. Welcome to the moon.

The lunar lander also includes Swedish technology from Uppsala. The company AAC Clyde Spaceformerly ÅAC Microtec which merged with Clyde Space Ltd, specializes in satellite technology and is behind the unit that manages the power distribution on Odysseus.

Two hours after landing, the company stated that data from the probe had started to flow in and that the probe had landed upright. However, the company did not provide any information about where on the moon Odysseus landed.

The fact that it is now increasingly private companies that carry out the space missions is a conscious strategy for the United States.

A month ago, a Japanese probe landed on the moon, and the country thus became the fifth in the world to have managed to land a craft on the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.