US private lunar lander alive after historical landing

LOS ANGELES - US company Intuitive Machines' first lunar lander is alive and well after making historical lunar landing on Thursday, the company said in an update Friday.

The uncrewed lander, named Odysseus, landed at the lunar South Pole at 6:23 p.m. Thursday Eastern Time, marking the first American spacecraft to land on the lunar surface in more than 50 years.

"Flight controllers are communicating and commanding the vehicle to download science data. The lander has good telemetry and solar charging," Intuitive Machines tweeted on Friday.

After the lander touched down on the lunar surface, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data. The company said the mission team is working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.

Odysseus carries NASA science and other commercial payloads to the moon.

The last US moon landing mission was made in December 1972, when Apollo 17 touched down on the lunar surface for the final mission of the Apollo Program.