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SpaceX successfully launches Odysseus in bid to return US to the lunar surface


This Odysseus faces a two-week journey instead of 10 years thankfully.

Shortly after liftoff, SpaceX confirmed that the IM-1 mission’s Odysseus lander had been successfully deployed and that the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that delivered it into space had also landed back at Cape Canaveral. Intuitive Machines expects the lander to be active for 14 Earth days, after which the lunar night will likely force it to shut down as Odysseus wasn’t designed to withstand such a period of intense cold. Odysseus is also carrying payloads from other customers, including the “EagleCam” CubeSat camera system built by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, which is designed to analyze dust plumes.

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