American probe lands on the moon in the first achievement of its kind for a private company

The American company "Intuitive Machines" successfully landed a probe on the moon's surface on Thursday, making it the first American vehicle to land there in over 50 years, marking the first achievement of its kind for a private company.

During a live broadcast of the company, Intuitive Machines chief technology officer Tim Crain said, "We confirm without any doubt that our probe is now on the surface of the moon and is transmitting signals."

The company later confirmed through the "X" platform that the probe had landed "vertically" and had begun "sending data."

The landing operation was recorded at 5:23 p.m. Houston time in Texas, where the company's control room is located (23:23 GMT).

The height of the landing vehicle, "Nova-C," which carries scientific equipment for NASA, is about four meters. It took off last week from Florida.

The landing operation was the mission's most challenging phase, named "IM-1."

Laser devices that were supposed to guide the probe malfunctioned, so an alternative solution was relied upon through a NASA tool onboard the vehicle, which was planned to be tested during the mission only.

During the final stage of the landing, the probe operated entirely autonomously.

AFP