With the last-minute assistance of a NASA-precision landing technology, the first CLPS mission — or commercial lunar payload services — carrying the agency’s science and technology demonstrations successfully landed on the moon at 6:23 p.m. on Feb. 22.
NASA and Intuitive Machines held a televised news conference at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, to detail the Odysseus lander’s historic soft moon landing.
This mission is the first U.S. soft landing on the moon in more than 50 years. Flight controllers are communicating and commanding the lander, which is solar charging and has good telemetry.
The news conference will air on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website.
The last full moon of winter, the “Full Snow Moon,” occurs Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 a.m. EST. This will also be 2024’s farthest — and only — full micro-moon this year. Furthest from the Earth on Sunday at 10 EST, its distance will be 252,225 miles (405,917 kilometers) as compared to the average distance between the Earth and moon of 238,900 miles (384,472 kilometers).
Fortunately, the weather is forecast to be partly cloudy Friday night with Saturday clearing.
The moon will still be very close to full phase on Friday night, so it will be worth taking a look in the east at sunset. Notice how the days are getting longer — the sun is now starting to set at 6 p.m.! The moon will rise shortly after sunset on Friday and be easy and beautiful to see along the horizon and during the night.
The moon will be high and bright in the sky among the coming stars of spring, and if you have any snow left on the ground, it will be a pretty sight in the moonlight. The moon will be very close to the bright star Regulus, the heart of Leo the Lion. If you are out at 10 p.m., look to the northeast to see a beautiful bright star called Arcturus. It is the fourth-brightest star in the whole night sky and is prominent in the night skies of spring and fall.
If the sky is clear, take in the view and look for the “Winter Circle.” With the bright moon, only the brightest stars will be visible but that can help identify them easier. When the moon rises later in a couple of days take a look again at the Winter Circle to see all the beautiful sky sights it contains.
Each month’s full moon is given a name that corresponds to the characteristics of the month. You may have snow, where you live so the “Full Snow Moon” will live up to its name.
When you look at the moon this weekend, consider this: There is an American lunar lander near the moon’s South Pole called Odysseus — Odie for short — that successfully touched down on Thursday.
It was quite a thrill as the minutes ticked by during the 11 minutes from Powered Descent Initiation (PDI) to the predicted touchdown time of 6:23 p.m. EST. It took awhile to get confirmation that Odie had indeed landed safely and upright, as the initial radio signals from the lunar lander were weak. But the sheer elation I and countless others felt when that confirmation came through was exhilarating and hearkened back to the days of Apollo.
Yes, this was an uncrewed lunar lander, but it landed in the area of the moon, Malapert A, which is where NASA is looking to land astronauts in 2026 during the Artemis III mission. NASA and other countries are going to the moon to stay this time and initiate a lunar economy and outposts.
In a Friday post on the social media platform X, Intuitive Machines provided the following update:
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 …
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) Feb. 23, 2024
WTOP will keep you updated on Odie.
Oh, and we are 46 days from the very deep partial solar eclipse that will be visible over the entire D.C. area. Have you got your solar eclipse glasses? You will need them to safely see the partial solar eclipse so order now.
Follow my daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration. You can email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com.
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