-> According to the company, the Odysseus Moon Lander is expected to have a remaining battery life of 10 to 20 hours.
According to flight controllers who are still in contact with the robotic lander, the Odysseus spacecraft, the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since 1972, has an estimated battery life of 10 to 20 hours remaining.
On Tuesday, Intuitive Machines, located in Texas, announced that their flight controllers established communication with the Odysseus moon lander. The spacecraft transmitted data and images related to the payload science in the morning. NASA paid $118 million to Intuitive Machines to construct and operate the spacecraft on its journey to the moon. It carried science equipment for NASA and multiple commercial clients.
The spacecraft arrived on Friday, but its planned operation time of seven to 10 days may be reduced after an uneven landing. Intuitive reports that they are still determining the battery life of the lander.
The stock of the company dropped 16% on Tuesday, but recovered slightly after Intuitive stated they were still in communication with the lander. However, the stock had already lost most of its recent gains since the end of last week.
It is yet to be determined to what extent data and images collected from different payloads will remain unobtained due to the shortened lunar existence of Odysseus.
On February 15, the Nova-C-class lander was sent into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the help of a Falcon 9 rocket provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The six-legged craft arrived at lunar orbit six days after its launch.
On February 16, 2024, Intuitive Machines shared a picture of their Odysseus spacecraft on the moon with the Earth visible in the background.
Despite facing a last-minute navigational issue, Odysseus successfully completed its final descent to the moon and landed near its intended location at the south pole region on the following day, February 22nd.
Initial radio signals from the spacecraft were unexpectedly faint, confirming the vehicle made it to the surface intact but suggesting something was amiss.
According to the statements of perceptive leaders on February 23, engineers concluded that when Odysseus was about to land, one of its landing legs got stuck on the rough moon surface, causing it to tip over and eventually come to a resting position horizontally. It was observed to be resting with the support of a rock.
Intuitive acknowledged then that the lander’s sideways posture left two of its communications antennae pointed downward, knocking them out of commission, while limiting its solar panels’ exposure to sunlight, and thus the ability to recharge its batteries.
According to the company officials, only one of NASA’s six experiments seemed to have physical interference, but they believe that all the commercial payloads can still be fulfilled.
The company stated that flight engineers predicted Odysseus would lose contact on Tuesday morning, as its solar panels would no longer receive sunlight. This was determined by calculating the positions of the Earth and moon.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team has released images confirming the successful landing of Odysseus. The photos were provided by the team and show the spacecraft’s touchdown. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University via AP)
Although it did not have a perfect landing, Odysseus achieved the milestone of being the first American spacecraft to touch down on the moon since NASA’s manned Apollo mission in 1972.
This lunar landing marked a new milestone as it was the first time a commercially made and operated spacecraft touched down on the moon. It was also part of NASA’s Artemis program, which has the goal of sending astronauts back to the moon by the end of this decade.
The incidents related to the Odysseus mission highlighted once again the dangers of NASA relying on smaller and less experienced private companies, as opposed to the Apollo era.
One month later, Astrobotic Technology’s lunar lander encountered a propulsion leak while on its way to the moon. This occurred shortly after it was launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket on January 8.
JAXA, Japan’s space agency, faced a setback comparable to Odysseus’ journey in January when their SLIM moon lander encountered a similar problem. The lander toppled over on the lunar surface, causing its solar panels to be positioned incorrectly and draining its power.
On Monday, JAXA announced that their “precise” lander had surprisingly endured a frigid night on the moon and regained contact with the Earth, over a month after landing.
Source: voanews.com
