First private landing on Moon hailed ‘historic milestone’ for lunar exploration

The Odysseus lunar lander with the Earth in the background on February 16 (Intuitive Machines via AP)

The first landing of a private spacecraft on the Moon represents a “step forward” and is an “historic milestone” for lunar exploration, experts have said.

At 11.23pm on Thursday, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Odysseus lander touched down on the Moon’s south pole region.