Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is on its way to the moon after Thursday’s uneventful launch, but it managed to snap some incredible pictures of Earth while it’s still close to home. The company shared the first batch of images from the IM-1 mission X After confirming in an earlier post today that the spacecraft was in “excellent health.” Along with a view of Earth and some partial selfies of the Nova-C lander, nicknamed Odysseus, you can even see the SpaceX Falcon 9 landing in the distance after liftoff.
Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted the first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The photos were taken shortly after they broke up. @SpaceXThe first trip to the moon of the second stage of Intuitive Machines @NASA‘s CLPS initiative. pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024
Odyssey is on track to attempt a lunar landing on February 22, and so far it’s looking good. The team posted a series of updates to the X later in the week confirming that the lander had passed some important milestones before landing, including engine firing. According to Intuitive Machines, this was “the first time a liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine has ignited in space.”
