A lunar probe of intuitive machines probably landed on its side

American company Intuitive Machines, the first private company to land on the moon, announced on Friday 23 February that its probe had found the moon to be lying on its side rather than vertical, but that scientific data and images should still be there. Able to recover.

Intuitive Machine’s Odysseus probe, which is more than 4 meters tall, landed on the moon at 11:23 GMT on Thursday, becoming the first American device to do so in more than 50 years. But twists and turns, especially the failure of his navigation system, complicated the final descent. “We think” that Odysseus “got his foot caught on the surface and the moon overturned”.Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, explained at a press conference.

Using a model of the lander, he showed the device from one side, but its top was probably resting. “a rock”allows it to be partially done “Elevated”, according to an analysis of this young company founded in 2013 and located in Houston, Texas. Still, the lander generates energy thanks to its installed solar panels and can therefore operate, he said, adding that NASA probes in lunar orbit should try to take photos. “this weekend”, which may confirm the exact location of Odysseus. The company said on Thursday evening that the plane had landed “standing up”But this statement was based on erroneous data, the CEO added.

Additional turn of the moon

The device specifically carries scientific instruments from NASA, which wants to explore the moon’s south pole before sending astronauts there, as part of its Artemis mission. Fortunately, most of the cargo carried by the lander is on the far side of the moon’s surface, Altemus said. However, some antennas are pointed towards the ground, which limits data transmission capabilities.

Another disappointment: a small machine called EagleCam, equipped with a camera developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, had to be ejected from the lander at the last moment to capture the landing from the outside. Unfortunately, due to complications encountered during this phase, the deployment of EagleCam has been postponed, the university said Friday. This is now planned during ground missions, which may make it possible to get an external view of the lander.

The landing on the moon, even if it wasn’t perfect, was a sign of success for NASA, which awarded a $118 million contract with Intuitive Machines to transport six instrument scientists during the mission, called IM-1. One of them might have saved the trip. The lunar navigation system did not work as expected, so the company had to improvise. During an extra trip to the moon added shortly before the dangerous descent, the crew programmed the NASA laser system at the last minute to guide the lander. The system, which aims to improve landing accuracy, was to be activated for the first time in space during a test, during this mission. But it was eventually used successfully as a primary navigation system.

Stimulating the development of the lunar economy

Odysseus’ ground operations are expected to last a maximum of seven days before night falls at the moon’s south pole. The intuitive machines received congratulations from around the world on Thursday, including from competing companies that themselves recently tried the maneuver without success: Japanese start-up Espace, which crashed on the moon last year, and American Astrobotic. , which was not conducted. To reach Tara in January. The mission is the first for Intuitive Machines, but the second for NASA’s new Lunar Delivery Program, called CLPS, after the failure of Astrobotic last month.

The American space agency decided to outsource this service to private companies instead of sending scientific instruments to the moon using attached vehicles. This strategy should allow him to travel more often and for less money. But also to stimulate the development of a lunar economy capable of supporting a sustainable human presence on the Moon—one of the goals of NASA’s Artemis program. In total, four additional US lunar missions are officially planned this year under the CLPS program, including two more spacecraft.