After a successful launch, Intuitive Machine’s robotic Odysseus spacecraft (aka Odie) beamed home its first images from space. In a post on X, Intuitive Machines wrote that the spacecraft “successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024.” The images were captured one day after the spacecraft blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
[Related: ‘Odie’ is en route for its potentially historic moon landing.]
According to the Houston-based company, the four images they selected were chosen from hundreds of images taken by the lander’s cameras. These cameras were programmed to take five images every five minutes for the first two hours after Odysseus separated from the rocket’s second stage.
“Out of all the images collected, Intuitive Machines chose to show humanity’s place in the universe with four wonderful images we hope to inspire the next generation of risk-takers,” the company wrote in a statement.
They capture the planet Earth fading into the background as the spacecraft continues on its 230,000-mile journey towards the moon.
Intuitive Machines also announced that Odysseus “continues to be in excellent health” and is communicating with mission control. Odysseus launched one month after Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander failed to complete its mission. The spacecraft burned in the Earth’s atmosphere about 10 days after a broken fuel tank and massive leak caused the mission to fail.
In addition to these first images, Odysseus’ engine also passed a crucial check in deep space over…
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