Odysseus moon mission: Chinese astronomers to look at the universe from lander’s onboard cameras

Chinese scientists will use imaging cameras on board US-built spacecraft the Odysseus to study various astronomical bodies

The joint venture is part of a 2012 Memorandum of Understanding between China’s NAOC and US-based non-profit organisation ILOA

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The Odysseus, seen here after its launch, will give Chinese scientists access to its cameras, letting them see the secrets of the universe in a history-making collaboration. Photo: Intuitive Machines/TNS

Published: 11:30am, 23 Feb 2024Updated: 7:02pm, 23 Feb 2024

Scientists from China and the United States will be making joint astronomical observations on the moon following the landing of the first US-made spacecraft on the lunar surface in half a century.

Researchers at the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) in Beijing have been invited to use two imaging cameras on board Odysseus, a commercial lunar lander built by Texas-based Intuitive Machines, which touched down near the moon’s south pole on Thursday.

The cameras will be used by the researchers to study various astronomical bodies, including the centre of the Milky Way.

The collaboration is the result of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the NAOC and the Hawaii-based non-profit International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) back in 2012, which allowed Hawaiian astronomers to use an ultraviolet telescope on China’s Chang’e 3 moon lander to capture images of the Pinwheel galaxy from the moon’s surface for the first time two years later.

“ILOA was honoured to have participated in the first China-America cooperation on the moon with a Chinese instrument. Now we are pleased to announce the plan to reciprocate on the long-standing memorandum of understanding,” ILOA founding director Steve Durst said.

“We believe this project will be the first China-America cooperation on the moon with a North American instrument.”