Intuitive Machines Odysseus attempts moon landing for NASA

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Lunar company Intuitive Machines is going for history on Thursday as it attempts to reach the moon’s surface in what would be the first American lunar landing since the Apollo era.

Intuitive Machines’ mission, known as IM-1, aims to soft land near the moon’s south pole at about 6:24 p.m. ET. With minutes to go before the estimated landing, the spacecraft was getting good readings and the engine was performing as expected.

There is an anticipated brief delay between the landing and when engineers will be able to assess its success.

If successful, the company’s Nova-C cargo lander, named “Odysseus” after the mythological Greek hero, would be the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the lunar surface since 1972. Intuitive Machines would become the first company to pull off the feat — government agencies have carried out all previous successful landings.

The company’s stock fell 11% in Thursday trading to close at $8.28 a share.

Intuitive Machines, a Houston, Texas-based company founded in 2013, went public a year ago. After shares hit an all-time low in early January, the stock has surged and more than tripled – a rally that Wall Street analysts describe as fueled by investor excitement around the IM-1 mission’s progress.

Odysseus will begin a series of maneuvers about one hour before the landing attempt, starting with “Descent Orbit Insertion.”

IM-1 is targeting the “Malapert A” crater, about 300 kilometers from the moon’s south pole. After landing, Intuitive Machines aims to operate Odysseus on the surface for up to seven days.

The mission launched on a SpaceX rocket on Feb. 15. It is carrying 12 government and commercial payloads — six of which are for NASA under an $118 million contract.

Last month, Japan became the fifth country to land on the moon, following Russia, the U.S., China and India.