First Commercial Moon Landing Returns U.S. to Lunar Surface

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February 23, 2024

This week, we're celebrating the first chapter in a new space odyssey. Odysseus (nicknamed Odie), the lunar lander built and operated by the private company Intuitive Machines, is now on the moon, nestled in a crater called Malapert A near the lunar south pole. This marks the first time that a commercial spacecraft has soft-landed on another celestial body. It's also the first time since 1972 that a U.S. spacecraft has reached and operated on the lunar surface. Although communications with Odysseus remain limited for reasons yet unclear, the spacecraft's landing is a milestone in the push for government and private industry alike to reinvigorate lunar exploration, and paves the way for more ambitious missions in the future. Our story has more details. Elsewhere this week, we have stories about breakthrough studies of water's cosmic voyages, the resolution of a long-standing supernova mystery, the mathematical patterns hidden within the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and much, much more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Space Exploration First Commercial Moon Landing Returns U.S. to Lunar Surface Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission is the first U.S. soft landing on the moon since Apollo 17. It's also a sign of private industry's growing role in space By Michael Greshko

Planetary Science JWST Is Tracking Down the Cosmic Origins of Earth's Water New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope are exposing the pathways that water takes to reach terrestrial planets By Shannon Hall

Arts Sculptures about to Land on the Moon Join a Long History of Lunar Art A lunar lander nicknamed Odie carries 125 small moon sculptures by artist Jeff Koons that could become the first authorized artwork on the moon By Meghan Bartels

Astronomy JWST Solves Decades-Old Mystery of Nearby Supernova Scientists have finally found the compact object at the heart of the famous supernova of 1987, and it's not a black hole By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Astronomy This Astrophysicist Makes Stellar Nurseries That Fit in the Palm of Your Hand How artist and astrophysicist Nia Imara makes 3-D prints of the birth of stars By Tulika Bose,Jason Drakeford,Kelso Harper

Astronomy 3D-Printed Cosmic Clouds Unravel the Mysteries of Star Formation Three-dimensional printouts of stellar nurseries are helping to reveal how stars are born By Nia Imara

Astronomy Under Pluto's Sunny Skies, You'd Have to Wear Shades Despite being some six billion kilometers away, the sun from Pluto would be a dazzling sight to behold—carefully, that is By Phil Plait

Black Holes The Brightest Quasar Ever Seen Eats a 'Sun' Every Day The quasar, as bright as 500 trillion suns, has evaded astronomers for over 40 years because of its incredible luminosity By Robert Lea,SPACE.com

Particle Physics Can a Magnet Ever Have Only One Pole? Electron tornadoes that mimic "magnetic monopoles" emerge from specks of rust By Zack Savitsky

Mathematics Secret Mathematical Patterns Revealed in Bach's Music Physicists found that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach contains mathematical patterns that help convey information By Elise Cutts

Mathematics The Strangely Serious Implications of Math's 'Ham Sandwich Theorem' A simple solution to gerrymandering crumbles when confronted with math's 'ham sandwich theorem' By Jack Murtagh

Planetary Science Newly Discovered Asteroid Fragments Are As Old as the Solar System Fragments from Asteroid 2024 BX1 have proven to be a rare meteorite type that helps reveal the early solar system's building blocks By Robert Lea,SPACE.com

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Odysseus has taken the moon. This feat is a giant leap forward for all of humanity." NASA administrator Bill Nelson, on the touchdown of Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander near the moon's south pole.

FROM THE ARCHIVE Astronomers Watch as Planets Are Born High-resolution images of the debris disks around stars are revealing how solar systems form By Meredith A. MacGregor | June 2020

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