The IM-1 lander “Odysseus” in lunar orbit on Feb. 21, 2024.
Intuitive Machines
The moon lander dubbed Odysseus is “alive and well” however resting on its aspect a day after its white-knuckle landing as the primary personal spacecraft ever to achieve the lunar floor, and the primary from the U.S. since 1972, the corporate behind the car stated on Friday.
The car is believed to have caught certainly one of its six touchdown toes on the lunar floor close to the tip of its last descent and tipped over, coming to relaxation sideways, propped up on a rock, an evaluation of knowledge by flight engineers confirmed, in response to Houston-based Intuitive Machines.
Nonetheless, all indications are that Odysseus “is stable near or at our intended landing site” near a crater known as Malapert A within the area of the moon’s south pole, stated Stephen Altemus, chief govt officer of Intuitive Machines, which constructed and flew the lander.
“We do have communications with the lander,” and mission management operators are sending instructions to the car, Altemus stated, including that they have been working to acquire the primary photograph photos from the lunar floor from the touchdown web site.
A short replace on the mission’s standing posted to the corporate’s web site earlier on Friday described Odysseus “alive and well.”
The corporate had stated shortly after landing on Thursday that radio alerts indicated Odysseus, a 13-foot-tall hexagonal cylinder, had landed in an upright place, however Atlemus stated that defective conclusion was primarily based on telemetry from earlier than the touchdown.
Though the lander’s horizontal place is way from superb, firm officers stated that every one however one of many six NASA science and know-how payloads have been mounted on parts of the car left uncovered and receptive to communications, “which is very good for us,” Altemus stated.
“We think we can meet all the needs of the commercial payloads” as effectively, he added.
Much less promising was the truth that two of the spacecraft’s antennae have been left pointed on the floor, a circumstance that may restrict communications with the lander, Altemus stated.
Additionally the performance of a photo voltaic power panel on the highest of Odysseus, now dealing with the improper approach, is unsure, however a second array on the aspect of the spacecraft seems to be in working order, and the spacecraft’s batteries had been totally charged, he stated.
Intuitive Machines mission director Tim Crain stated the spacecraft, burning a propulsion gas of liquid methane and liquid oxygen for the primary time in area, “performed flawlessly” throughout its flight to the moon.
The uncrewed robotic spacecraft reached the lunar floor on Thursday after a nail-biting last method and descent wherein an issue surfaced with the lander’s navigation system, requiring engineers on the bottom to make use of an untested work-around on the eleventh hour.
It additionally took a while after an anticipated radio blackout to re-establish communications with the spacecraft and decide its destiny some 239,000 miles (384,000 km) from Earth.
When contact was lastly renewed, the sign was faint, confirming that the lander had touched down however leaving mission management instantly unsure as to the exact situation and place of the car, firm officers stated throughout a webcast of the occasion on Thursday night.
Crain stated he believed that the payloads aboard the lander would have the ability to function for about 9 or 10 days, after which solar could have set on the polar touchdown web site.
Shares of Intuitive Machines tumbled 30% in prolonged commerce on Friday, wiping out all their rally in Friday’s market session after the corporate stated its moon lander had tipped over.