Nova-C spacecraft carrying NASA payloads lands on the lunar surface
The unmanned spacecraft Nova-C, carrying scientific payloads for NASA, has successfully landed safely on the lunar surface. Nova-C has been recorded as the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon.
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US-based company Intuitive Machines (IM) announced that the Nova-C unmanned spacecraft, which was developed by the company and launched into orbit last week by a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, has successfully landed on the lunar surface.
It was reported that Nova-C, which is carrying scientific and technological payloads for NASA as part of the IM-1 mission, made contact with the lunar surface at 02:23 Turkish time. Intuitive Machines Flight Director Tim Crain, who stated that the first signal from the spacecraft was received approximately 15 minutes after Nova-C landed on the lunar surface, said, "What we can confirm, without a doubt, is that our equipment is on the surface of the Moon, and we are communicating."
With this development, Nova-C has been recorded as the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon.
CARRYING SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PAYLOADS
Civilian space transport company SpaceX launched the lunar lander Nova-C, developed by Intuitive Machines, into orbit last week using a Falcon-9 rocket. It was announced that as part of the IM-1 mission, which is Intuitive Machines' first lunar landing attempt, the craft is carrying scientific and technological payloads to the lunar surface for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in the US state of Texas, Intuitive Machines operates as a publicly traded company.
It is known that the firm has signed 3 contracts with NASA to transport payloads to the lunar surface under the CLPS program.