NASA and SpaceX's IM-1 puts America back on the Moon with some help from Australian scientists

The first images sent back by the Nova-C rocket over Australia.  (Supplied: SpaceX)

The first American spacecraft in 52 years has landed on the south pole of the Moon with the assistance of scientists from the New South Wales central west.

The mission is part of a project that could see see humans return to the Moon for the first time since 1972 and discover whether water exists there.

Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 is a robotic lunar spacecraft that was supported by NASA and launched into space by SpaceX, a company owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

It follows recent successful missions by India and Japan in 2023.

Scientists from the CSIRO’s Parkes Observatory in the state’s central west assisted with tracking and receiving data from the rocket.

It took officials more than 10 minutes to confirm the success of the landing after losing communications with the robotic craft.

The director of Australian Telescope National Facilities, John Reynolds, said it made for a “very intense” period.

“Although the signal is weak — that is to be expected — any signal is a major achievement and that means we are looking at a successful mission,” he said.

Dr Reynolds said for the past week the Parkes Murriyang Dish has been processing data sent back from the spaceship to ensure the rocket remained healthy.

“It is absolutely crucial because these radio signals that telescopes like Parkes are picking up are the lifeline. That’s how you know what’s going on,” he said.

The robot will now begin exploring the south pole of the Moon, where Parkes will again play a crucial role.

“Now the mission really starts,” Dr Reynolds said.

“Now that it is on the moon there are instruments aboard that will start transmitting valuable scientific data back to Earth and that’s where Parkes comes in.

“We are there to capture this valuable data every second that the Moon is above the horizon.”

It is not the first time the Parkes Murriyang Dish has assisted with missions to the moon.

In 1969, the observatory played a similar role with the Apollo 11 mission that saw humans land there for the first time.

A fictionalised version of those events was captured in the Australian film The Dish.

Plans to send humans back

The operation is the first stage of the Artemis program, which is aiming to see a long-term presence established on the Moon before sending astronauts to Mars.

Dr Reynolds said after not returning to the Moon for decades it was a crucial operation in preparing to send astronauts there in the future.

“Given that we haven’t been to the moon since the 1970s it is part of a learning mission to rediscover how to do that,” he said.

“The ultimate goal is Mars, but I think all the space agencies recognise that you can’t even contemplate sending folks to Mars until you have re-figured out how to get to the Moon.”

Now that the spacecraft has landed it will conduct research to determine whether water exists on the south pole of the Moon.

“That is where scientists think there may be water in the form of ice, and discovering ice on the Moon in usable quantities would be a fantastic leap forward in lunar exploration,” Dr Reynolds said.

“It may mean we don’t have to carry huge volumes of water to the Moon to support some sort of permanent installation there, which could be a huge advantage.”