First commercial Moon mission marks new era for space travel - BBC News

Odysseus' successful landing has sparked excitement around a possible expansion of the lunar economy.

4 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersImage caption, Intuitive Machines' Moon lander took off on a Space X rocketBy Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent and Harrison Jones BBC NewsThe landing of a first commercial spacecraft on the Moon has sparked excitement about a new age of possibilities in the Solar System.

News of the touchdown of Odysseus near the lunar south pole was greeted with cheers by staff at American firm Intuitive Machines' (IM) mission control in Houston, Texas, on Thursday.

It is the first time an American craft has successfully landed on the Moon since 1972 - and the first time ever that a private company has done so.

But the giant leap for commercial kind could also help future state missions to the lunar surface and perhaps even aid plans to set up a lunar - or Martian - base for humans.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of America's most famous astrophysicists, believes missions of this kind "should have been happening decades ago".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68381392

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