US Moon Landing: Hello Chandrayaan! Odysseus becomes 2nd American craft to land on lunar surface since 1972. Watch Video

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Odysseus, the latest lunar lander, successfully reached the moon on Wednesday, six days after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After entering a low lunar orbit, the lander prepared for its planned touchdown in the early evening. This hexagon-shaped vessel, part of a new fleet of NASA-funded unmanned commercial robots, touched down near the lunar south pole at 2323 GMT, decelerating from 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) per hour.

Although there were expectations for images from an external "EagleCam" during the final descent, their release is pending. Tim Crain, the company's chief technology officer, confirmed the transmission of signals from the lunar surface, but uncertainties remain about the lander's functionality. He expressed optimism about the team's achievements and the potential for further data retrieval.

The current mission aims to explore environmental conditions near the south pole, critical for future astronaut missions, as stated by senior NASA official Joel Kearns. This achievement comes after a recent failed moonshot by another American company, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating private industry's capability in space exploration, last achieved by NASA during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Odysseus launched February 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and boasts a new type of supercooled liquid oxygen, liquid methane propulsion system that allowed it to race through space in quick time.