Intuitive Machines Makes History, and So Does its Stock Price

Happy Tuesday, everyone! This week’s newsletter is 776 words, a 5-minute read.

Table of Contents

• 1 Big Thing: Intuitive Machines Makes History

• 2. Cool Stuff You Might Have Missed

• 3. Stocks and Space - The Future is Here

• 4. Check Out this Awesome Newsletter

• 5. A Wonderful Science Book That You Should Read

1 Big Thing: Intuitive Machines Makes History

The Biggest News in space this week, by far, was the successful landing of Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander near the Lunar South Pole.

The Company’s Made History on Thursday (Feb. 22), becoming the first private company to successfully land on the moon.

The Mission: Odysseus carried 12 payloads - 6 commercial, and 6 government - to its landing site. The government payloads were procured by NASA under a $118 million contract through the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

Things Went Sideways: On Friday (Feb. 23), Intuitive Machines execs announced that Odysseus’ landing gear snagged on the moon’s surface and caused the lander to tip over sideways when it landed. This seems to be a trend lately, with Japan’s SLIM moon lander doing the same a month ago.

What’s Next: Odysseus is still successfully sending back data, and hopes to deploy a special camera called EagleCam to take more photos of the lunar surface. Scientists expect Odysseus to last until tonight or tomorrow, when the sun sets on the moon’s surface and the craft’s batteries inevitably die.

2. Cool Stuff You Might Have Missed

1. SpaceX is launching its 8th crewed mission to the ISS on Friday, March 1st. (Space)

2. China is planning 100 launches and a moon sample return mission in 2024. (SpaceNews)

3. Delta Airlines is selling tickets for a special flight from Austin to Detroit for passengers to view the April 8th total solar eclipse. (NPR)

4. Varda Space Industries successfully returned its pharmaceutical manufacturing spacecraft to Earth last week. (ArsTechnica)

3. Stocks and Space - The Future is Here

Tracking Intuitive Machines’ Stock Price over the past month has been nearly as exciting as tracking its historic moon landing this week.

Trading Hands: The company went public through a SPAC merger in February of 2023, trading under the symbol LUNR. The stock price soared initially, then fell precipitously in the months following.

Meteoric Rise: LUNR was trading at about $3 a share at the beginning of the month, and reached $11 after Odysseus’ successful landing.

Crashing Down to Earth: After news broke that Intuitive Machines landed its Odysseus craft sideways on the surface of the moon, LUNR plummeted to about $6 per share. The price is still falling, reaching about $5 by the time I’m sending you this week’s newsletter.

A New Era: With private companies engaging more and more in spaceflight every day, we’re going to see many more stories like this one. In the nascent days of an industry, space stock prices will surge on good news and crash on bad news. Which stocks will be long-term winners is yet to be seen, but the massive inflows of capital to the space industry have already begun.

4. Check Out this Awesome Newsletter

If You’re Like Me, you’re fascinated by the rapidly changing Electric Vehicle industry and the promise of these futuristic cars.

It Can Be A Lot to keep up with, but The EV Universe newsletter has you covered. Over 6,000 people read the newsletter weekly, keeping up with emerging trends and new developments in the electric vehicle

Please Consider Subscribing. It helps support my newsletter, and I genuinely enjoy reading The EV Universe every week. I wouldn’t promote it if I didn’t love it myself.

5. A Wonderful Science Book That You Should Read

I’m Currently Reading Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku, and I can’t recommend it enough.

I Remember Watching the Science Channel as a kid and being captivated any time Michio Kaku appeared in a documentary. His way of explaining complex topics in a simple and gentle way is truly special.

In His Newest Book, Michio Kaku writes about the history, present, and future of quantum computers - a technology set to change every facet of our lives in the next few decades.

It Has 4.4/5 Stars on Amazon and is on sale for $16 right now. Check it out here:

Don’t Forget: If you refer 5 friends to the newsletter, I’ll send you a free copy of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s A Brief Welcome to the Universe. Use the link below to share and get credit for your referrals!

Thanks as always,

-Michael