US private lunar lander scheduled to land on moon Thursday

LOS ANGELES -- The first lunar lander of US company Intuitive Machines is scheduled to land on the moon this Thursday, according to the latest update of the company.

The lander, named Odysseus, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last Thursday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It marks Intuitive Machines' first robotic flight to the moon's surface. Odysseus, carrying NASA science and other commercial payloads to the moon, aims to make the first moon landing of a US spacecraft in five decades.

Odysseus continues to be in excellent health, and flight controllers are analyzing and managing the lander's thermal conditioning for critical systems and payloads with a combination of heater power and attitude control to maximize efficiency, according to the company.

The lander is scheduled to land on the moon at 4:49 pm Thursday Central Time.

NASA is working with several US companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.