The bad news is that Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tripped and tipped on its side while landing near the moon’s south pole. Good news? Still, this brave robotic spacecraft can send data back.
Mission managers at the Houston-based company and NASA, which is paying $118 million to support Odysseus’ space journey, will work on how to maximize the scientific return over the next nine to 10 days. I’m here. “The vehicle is stable near or at the planned landing site,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said today during a post-landing briefing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Ta. “We’re communicating with the lander…which is amazing to begin with.”
By only surviving the previous day’s descent, Odysseus made history as the first commercial lander to reach the moon’s surface safely, and the first American-built spacecraft to reach the moon’s surface since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. I left.
It wasn’t easy. During pre-landing operations, mission managers discovered that the safety lock on Odysseus’ laser ranging system had not been released before the spacecraft’s launch on February 15. This caused the system to become inoperable.
When Artemus told mission director Tim Crane that the spacecraft would have to land autonomously without a rangefinder, “his face went blank because the mission would fail.” So it was like being punched in the stomach.” Fortunately, Crane and other mission team members figured out how to reprogram Odysseus to take advantage of the experimental laser ranging system that was included in NASA’s payload.
“Typical spacecraft software development would take a month to write down the calculations, cross-check them with colleagues, and run some simple calculations to prove the theory in a simulation. evaluated performance 10,000 times,” Crain said. “Our team basically completed it in an hour and a half. And it worked.”
Crane said the problem was discovered by chance during a pre-landing attempt to activate the rangefinder. “If it hadn’t been for that fortuitous event, we probably would have realized five minutes before landing that the laser was not working,” he said. “That’s why the word serendipity is so appropriate.”
The rangefinder problem wasn’t the only issue. Odysseus made landfall earlier than expected, with a descent speed of 6 miles per hour and a lateral speed of 2 miles per hour. Altemus said telemetry suggests one of the lander’s legs got caught on something during landing, causing the phone booth-sized spacecraft to tip over. Judging by his current position, Odysseus may be hanging on a rock, stuck in a crevasse, or lying on a slope.
On the day of landing, Intuitive Machines announced that Odysseus was upright, but today Artemus said the incorrect assessment was based on “old telemetry” from the lander’s fuel gauge.
Although the lander is in an off-center position, some of its solar arrays are able to generate electricity, and some of its antennas are oriented correctly to communicate with ground stations on Earth, Altemus said.
“But we have antennas pointing to the surface, but those antennas cannot be used to transmit to Earth,” he added. “And it’s actually a limiter. I think your ability to communicate and get the right data so you can get everything you need for the mission is compromised the most by being on your side.”
Mission managers are working to increase the flow of data, including images that could clearly show how the lander is lying and whether there is any damage.
“We will provide updates over the next few days as we get more telemetry and enable more features.” [about] “Landing analysis and reconstruction,” Artemus said.
He said a NASA lunar reconnaissance aircraft will fly over the landing area over the weekend to capture the view from above. This should help Intuitive Machines and his NASA figure out how close Odysseus was to its landing target near the crater known as Malapart A.
Odysseus’ main mission is to collect data about the environment of the moon’s south polar region. Interest in the region is growing because its permanently shadowed craters are thought to contain reserves of water ice that could support a future lunar base. NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon’s south pole in 2026.
“Spicy” mission to the moon
Last year demonstrated how difficult it is to land a robotic lander on the moon. Last month, another private company, Astrobotic, lost its chance to land on the moon when its Peregrine spacecraft leaked propellant after liftoff. Similar to Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic provides commercial lunar delivery services to his NASA.
Attempts by the Russian Space Agency and Japan’s iSpace venture to land on the moon also failed. On the plus side, India successfully sent a lander and rover to the moon last August. And in an eerie foreshadowing of Odysseus’ mission, Japan’s Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Slim lander reaches the moon, only to fall on its side.
Artemus acknowledged that Odysseus, named after the long-roving hero of Greek mythology, didn’t always have smooth sailing during his journey. “It was a pretty grueling seven-day mission to get to the moon,” he said.
Joel Kearns, NASA’s deputy assistant administrator for exploration, praised Intuitive Machines for pulling it off.
“I would like to congratulate Intuitive Machines on three major accomplishments,” said Kearns. “First, it was the first successful soft landing by the United States on the moon since 1972. Second, it was the first non-governmental, for-profit organization to actually land safely on the moon.” Third, the touchdown point will be at 80 degrees south latitude, much closer to the moon’s south pole than previous U.S. robotic or human probes. ”
Kearns said NASA has already received valuable data about Odysseus’s lunar passage and looks forward to receiving more data as Intuitive Machines completes checkout of Odysseus. ” he said.
What will happen to Odysseus?
Altemus said it appears all active payloads are able to continue collecting data. The only payload in the awkward position is a cube containing a series of mini-sculptures facing down on the lander, he said.
A special case exists for a camera system called EagleCam. EagleCam was designed to be deployed during the lander’s descent and take a touchdown “selfie,” but due to issues with the ranging system, the payload had to remain in place. Mission managers are now planning to launch an Eagle cam from the stationary lander to the surface to take photos.
The end of Odysseus’ mission is already near. Crane said that once the sun sets over the landing site, the lander’s solar array will no longer be able to generate electricity.
“When the sun goes down on Odi, the battery tries to keep the vehicle warm and alive, but it will eventually get frigid,” Crain said.
The lander’s electronics are not designed to withstand cold lunar nights. “In the best case scenario, it will take another nine to 10 days,” Klein said. “Of course, the next time the sun shines on the solar array, we’ll point the dish toward the moon to see if the radio, batteries, and flight computers can survive that frigid temperature.”
