The “success” There is but it’s already time to end the adventure. The American Odysseus probe, for about a week on the moon, at the end of its main mission, will be paused very soon, Wednesday, February 28, Intuitive Machines, the American company that developed it from NASA.
Odysseus became the first private lander to land on the Moon and the first American spacecraft to do so since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. However, it was found tilted on the lunar surface after an uneventful landing. Despite this, “We have received data from all cargo, private and NASA”Underlined during the press conference, Steve Altamus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines. “The mission we have undertaken has been very successful so far. »
The boss also makes a surprising announcement: the intuitive machines plan to try to bring Odysseus back to life “In two or three weeks”, after the passing of the lunar night. However, it is highly uncertain whether the device, especially its battery, will survive the freezing cold. For the moment, the lander will be “go to sleep”Steve Altemus said.
The machine is powered by its solar panels, and so it initially had to be turned off during lunar nights. A few hours into the press conference, contact was lost.
In prone position
An impressive photo released Wednesday shows the challenges it faces: It shows at least one of the probe’s six legs broken during landing, with the stationary engine kicking up a projection of lunar dust.
A failure in the lander’s navigation system complicated its final landing. It approached the ground too quickly, with a residual horizontal movement that was not expected, and as a result “Skidded” On the surface, the CEO explained. Once placed, tip it up.
Because Odysseus is positioned on a slight slope, and probably leaning to one side on one of his tanks, it is tilted at about 30 degrees according to Intuitive Machines. The second image, on which we can see the blackness of the probe tip and the nearby pit, confirms this position. A small camera-equipped craft called EagleCam, developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University, was ejected from the lander in an attempt to photograph its exterior, but was unable to provide the long-awaited shot.
This mission, although private, was set up largely thanks to funding from NASA, which employed intuitive machines to transport six scientific instruments to the moon – a contract worth 118 million dollars (approximately 109 million euros).
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“Odysseus is a success from NASA’s point of view”, the head of the American space agency, Bill Nelson, announced to the press on Wednesday. Scientists have begun examining radio waves recorded from Earth using an instrument. Another was unable to analyze the amount of dust thrown up during landing as planned, but was able to ignite once on the ground.
Develop a lunar economy
Odysseus is the probe that landed the furthest south on the moon. NASA wants to explore the region before sending its astronauts there as part of its Artemis mission. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to major powers because it may contain large amounts of water in the form of ice. This water can be used to make fuel for spacecraft or to support the needs of astronauts in space.
Intuitive Machines has two more lunar missions planned this year. All of this is part of NASA’s new CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, which has mandated several companies to transport its scientific instruments, so that they can travel more often and for less money than developing scientific instruments. The American space agency also intends to stimulate the development of a lunar economy capable of supporting a sustainable human presence on the Moon – one of the goals of the Artemis program.
Fifty years after Apollo, “People asked”Why is the moon landing? “too hard”, Steve Altemus reports. He noted several differences between past and current missions: limited funding, tight schedules, and landings far beyond the equator.
“We have fundamentally changed the economic barriers to a moon landing”The CEO of this young company established in 2013 said. “We have opened the door to a strong and prosperous lunar economy in the future”He promised.
