Watch Live! Intuitive Machines Landing of the First Privately Funded U.S. Moon Lander

The Odysseus moon lander, built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, completed two engine burns in deep space on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18 and is sailing on the right course through space, the company said on X. The mission lifted off on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Feb. 15 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and all systems and science are healthy as it makes its way towards the moon.



But the lander will soon be put to the test. "Odysseus' largest challenge to date," officials added in the update thread, will be "lunar orbit insertion," which is expected to take place Wednesday (Feb. 21). The engine firing will put Odysseus in orbit around the moon in preparation for landing the following day, Thursday (Feb. 22), at 5:49 p.m. EST (2249 GMT).