Intuitive Machines' lunar lander is on its way to the moon after its trouble-free launch on Thursday, but it managed to take some incredible images of Earth while still close to home. The company shared the first batch of images from the IM-1 mission on x today after confirming in a previous post that the spacecraft is “in excellent health.” Along with a view of Earth and some partial selfies of the Nova-C lander, nicknamed Odysseus, you can even see the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 falling in the distance after separation.
Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first images from the IM-1 mission to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceXThe second stage of Intuitive Machines' first trip to the Moon under @POTThe CLPS initiative. pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024
Odysseus is on track to make his moon landing attempt on February 22 and so far it seems to be going well. The team released a series of updates on X at the end of the week, confirming that the lander has passed some key milestones before its landing, including engine ignition. This marked “the first in-space ignition of a liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine,” according to Intuitive Machines.
