How NASA’s new mission to drill for water on the moon will help astronauts BREATHE in space, create fuel for spaceships and give America a permanent lunar base – catapulting us into a new era of space exploration

The first private spacecraft is currently on the moon, preparing to search for signs of water in the lunar landscape.

Odysseus, a $118 million unmanned lander built by Intuitive Machines, made a soft landing near the moon’s south pole at 6:24 PM ET on Thursday.

NASA’s Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1 will be strapped to the outside of the spacecraft, which will soon dig into the surface, collect regolith and analyze the moon’s dust with an array of powerful instruments.

The mission will help astronauts who will soon explore the moon, allowing them to use water for hydration, fuel and even breathing, ultimately creating a human presence.

“Thanks to data from spacecraft orbiting the moon, scientists believe the polar regions are rich in water beneath the moon’s surface,” NASA shared in a statement.

“But (we) never explored these areas or detected the water directly.

‘PRIME-1 will help identify and assess the abundance and quality of water in an area expected to contain ice.’

PRIME-1 consists of two instruments: the Regolith and ice drill for exploring new terrain (TRIDENT) and the mass spectrometer for observing lunar operations (MSolo).

TRIDENT will drill up to a meter deep and extract lunar regolith, or soil, down to the surface.

The instrument is designed to drill in multiple segments, pause and retract to deposit cuttings on the surface after each depth increase.

Once the samples are at the surface, MSolo will assess the cuttings for water and other chemical compounds.

The instrument is a mass spectrometer, which can measure the mass-charge ratio of ions.

The instrument is used in drug testing and discovery, food contamination detection, pesticide residue analysis, isotope ratio determination, protein identification and radiocarbon dating.

“The data from PRIME-1 will help scientists understand the in-situ resources on the Moon, including mapping the location of resources,” NASA said.

‘PRIME-1 contributes to NASA’s search for water at the moon’s poles and supports the agency’s plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by the end of this decade.’

The space agency is looking forward to 2026, when it will put American boots on the moon again – the last time was in 1972.

Intuitive Machines revealed on Friday that Odysseus is ‘living in good graces’.

‘Flight controllers communicate and control the vehicle to download scientific data. The lander has good telemetry and can be charged via solar energy,” the company shared on X.

During his 73-minute descent, Odysseus, or Oddie, slowed from speeds of 4,000 mph (6,500 km per hour) to make a soft landing in an area full of craters.

However, the mission nearly ended in failure when the craft was forced to switch to an experimental navigation system mid-landing.

“I know this was a nail-biter, but we’re on the surface and we’re broadcasting. Welcome to the moon,” said Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines.

The vessel was launched last week oa SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The unmanned spacecraft has been orbiting the moon about 58 miles (92 kilometers) above the surface since entering orbit on Wednesday.

Odie remained “in excellent health” as it continued to orbit the moon, about 250,000 miles from Earth, transmitting flight data and lunar images to Intuitive Machines’ mission control center in Houston, the company said Wednesday.

But as the operation entered its final phase, Odie’s supervisors discovered that the laser rangefinders were not working.

This essential system allows the spacecraft to determine how far above the moon’s surface it is and can make the difference between a soft landing and a crash.

Using a last-minute software patch, engineers were able to convert NASA’s experimental navigation Doppler Lidar, which was carried in the payload, to the job.

At 6:11 PM EST, Odysseus fired his engine for the crucial 11-minute burn, slowing from 4,000 mph (6,500 km per hour) to just 2.2 mph (3.5 km per hour), 33 feet above the surface.

After slowing the fall, Odie landed safely on the rim of the giant Malapert A crater, about 200 miles north of the moon’s south pole.

After 15 tense minutes, the crew on Earth finally received Odie’s signal, confirming that the landing had been a success.

Shortly after receiving the signal, mission director Tim Crain said, “What we can confirm without a doubt is that our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting.

“Houston, Odysseus has found his new home.”

NASA administrator Bill Nelson added in a statement about X that Odysseus “made the landing of his life.”

The landing marks the first time since 1972 with the last Apollo mission that a US spacecraft has successfully landed on the moon.

Although the lander was built by Intuitive Machines, NASA partially funded the operation by purchasing cargo space aboard Odysseus.

This also marks the first moon landing with a rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which Intuitive Machines paid $130 million for the launch.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video congratulating everyone involved: “We have taken the moon.

Today, the US returned to the moon for the first time in more than half a century.

“Today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA’s commercial partnerships,” he added.

“Congratulations to everyone involved in this great and daring quest.”

The magnitude of this challenge is highlighted by the recent failures of other landing attempts.

Odie’s mission comes a month after another private company attempted to land on the moon but failed.

Astrobotic Technology attempted to return America to the lunar surface with its Peregrine, but the lander suffered a propulsion system leak en route shortly after being placed in orbit.

More recently, Japan’s SLIM lander successfully landed on the moon, but ultimately became stuck upside down due to an engine failure during landing.

The mission was made even more difficult by Intuitive Machine’s choice of landing site.

The Malapert A Crater is a rocky area full of craters that could destabilize or topple a lander.

However, it is also believed that this area near the moon’s south pole could be rich in frozen water that could be essential for a future lunar base.