This is the first lunar landing by an American-built spacecraft in fifty years.
The robotic lander was the final leg of humanity’s incredible feat of sending men to the moon and returning them all alive. It was also the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. That is a feat that has never been attempted or duplicated.
At 6:23 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, the lander—named Odysseus and slightly larger than a phone booth—arrived in the moon’s south polar area.
The landing window passed in silence while flight controllers awaited word on success. There was supposed to be a quick communication break, but minutes went by.
Then, a feeble signal from the spacecraft was discovered, according to Tim Crain, chief technology officer of Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company that constructed Odysseus.
He remarked, “It’s there, but it’s faint.” So everyone, hold on. We’ll observe this situation.
After a little while, he declared, “There is no doubt that our equipment is on the moon’s surface and that we are transmitting.” Thus, congrats.
“Houston, Odysseus has found its new home,” he said afterwards.
The cheers and high fives at the mission control center were subdued, though, as it is still unclear whether the spacecraft can communicate effectively.
More encouraging news was released by the corporation later in the evening.
Intuitive Machines released a statement saying, “Flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data after troubleshooting communications.” “We are currently attempting to downlink the initial images from the lunar surface.”
Although this endeavor was significantly less ambitious than the Apollo missions, which resulted in the landing of people on the moon, NASA hoped it would contribute to the start of a more revolutionary era: affordable interplanetary space transportation throughout the solar system.
The CEO of space consultancy company BryceTech, Carissa Christensen, said, “I think it is a smart thing that NASA is trying to do, which is to essentially create a competitive ecosystem of providers to meet its needs.”
NASA has contracted with a number of small businesses, including Intuitive Machines, to deliver equipment that will conduct surface reconnaissance on the moon before NASA astronauts return there later this decade.
In order to deliver six instruments to the moon for this mission, NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118 million under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program. Among the instruments were a stereo camera designed to record the billowing dust that Odysseus kicked up as it approached the surface and a radio receiver designed to gauge the impact of charged particles on radio signals.
Other cargo included an artwork by Jeff Koons and a camera constructed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students in Daytona Beach, Florida. Columbia Sportswear produced reflective material to wrap some parts of the spacecraft.
On February 15, Odysseus departed Earth early on a SpaceX rocket. On Wednesday it entered lunar orbit.
There was a last-minute reorganization leading up to the landing.
Intuitive Machines said that the spacecraft would touch down on the moon on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. after entering lunar orbit. The corporation announced on Thursday morning that the spacecraft had landed at 4:24 p.m. after moving to a higher altitude.
The landing attempt was rescheduled until Thursday afternoon after the firm announced that an additional lunar orbit will be required prior to the scheduled landing attempt at 6:24 p.m. A laser equipment on the spacecraft that was supposed to provide information on its altitude and velocity was not functioning, according to a company spokesman.
The extra orbit gave the spacecraft’s software two hours to be modified in order to replace the NASA-provided experimental laser instrument with a new one.
Odysseus started its engine at 6:11 p.m. to start its powered descent to the surface. Up until the spaceship remained silent for several minutes, everything seemed to be functioning and the laser instrument seemed to be a sufficient fill-in.
About 185 miles north of the moon’s south pole, in a level plain close to the Malapert A crater, was where Odysseus made his landing. Recent years have seen a great deal of interest in the polar regions of the moon due to frozen water concealed in the shadows of craters.
It has turned out to be a difficult task to reach the moon. Only the government space programs of the Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan have successfully placed robotic landers on the moon surface, aside from the United States. Prior attempts had been made and abandoned by two businesses, Ispace of Japan and Astrobotic Technologies of Pittsburgh, as well as by the Israeli NGO SpaceIL.
Steve Altemus, the CEO of Intuitive Machines, expressed his expectation that NASA will stick to its moon-on-a-budget philosophy even in the event that Odysseus crashed in an interview conducted before to launch.
He declared, “It’s the only way to really go forward.” “That’s the intended outcome of this experiment.”
Previously, NASA would have constructed its own spaceship.
NASA sent a string of unmanned spacecraft, known as Surveyor 1 through Surveyor 7, to test landing procedures and investigate the characteristics of lunar soil prior to Neil Armstrong becoming the first person to set foot on the moon. Fears that spacecraft and humans would become buried in a dense layer of fine dust on the moon’s surface were reduced by those robotic landings.
However, NASA often aims to maximize the likelihood of success while designing and operating spacecraft, and as a result, its designs are typically costly.
The Apollo moon landings, which took place between 1969 and 1972, served as a model for an enormous initiative known as the “moonshot,” which attempted to solve an almost unsolvable problem with an almost infinite budget. In contrast, CLPS aims to capitalize on the zeal and inventiveness of start-up entrepreneurs.
A robotic lunar lander developed, manufactured, and operated in the traditional NASA fashion would cost $500 million to $1 billion, or at least five times as much as the space agency paid Intuitive Machines, according to Thomas Zurbuchen, a former top NASA scientific official who launched the CLPS program in 2018.
NASA anticipates that competition and capitalism, with businesses putting forth various strategies, will encourage innovation and result in new capabilities at reduced prices.
Even in the event that they are successful, these businesses will have to contend with a wide range of clients outside NASA and other space agencies.
“It’s unclear who those additional clients could be,” Ms. Christensen stated.
Two further CLPS flights are under contract with Intuitive Machines, and other businesses are anticipated to try their hand at moon landings as well. The Pittsburgh-based business Astrobotic Technologies is preparing a second mission to send a robotic NASA rover to one of the dark areas where ice may be present. The Blue Ghost lander of Firefly Aerospace, located close to Austin, Texas, is almost complete, but a launch date has not yet been disclosed.
Highlights From the Successful Lunar Landing of the Spacecraft Odysseus
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The entrepreneur who helped start Intuitive Machines has more plans for private space exploration.
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The next spacecraft heading to the moon could be from China.
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There are more private landers headed to the moon.
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A mixed record for moon landings this year.