Posted on 02/22/2024 3:27:37 AM PST by Red Badger
In short:
* A US moon lander has entered a circular orbit 92 kilometres above the lunar surface.
* It is carrying a suite of science instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA.
* What's next? The spacecraft, dubbed Odysseus, will attempt to land on the Moon on Friday.
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A moon lander built by US company Intuitive Machines has reached lunar orbit, heading for an attempt at the first US touchdown on Earth's nearest celestial neighbour in more than 50 years, and the first ever by a private spacecraft.
The six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, entered a circular orbit 92 kilometres above the lunar surface after firing its main rocket thruster for nearly seven minutes in an orbital insertion manoeuvre, the company said in an online statement.
The spacecraft is expected to begin final descent with another blast from its main engine about an hour before landing, with touchdown planned for 9:30am AEDT on Friday at crater Malapert A near the Moon's south pole, according to Intuitive Machines' latest flight plan.
The vehicle is carrying a suite of science instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA and several commercial customers designed to operate for seven days before the Sun sets on the polar landing site.
Odysseus remains "in excellent health," the company said, adding that for the duration of its lunar orbit roughly 384,000 kilometres from Earth, mission controllers in Houston will monitor flight data from the spacecraft and transmit images of the Moon.
The Odysseus lunar lander in orbit over the near side of the Moon.(Intuitive Machines via AP) Odysseus, a four-metre-tall NOVA C-class lander, was launched six days ago, on February 15, atop a Falcon 9 rocket built and flown by Elon Musk's California-based company SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
If the landing succeeds, the IM-1 mission would represent the first controlled descent to the lunar surface by a US spacecraft since Apollo 17, when NASA's last crewed moon mission carrying Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed there in 1972.
It also would mark the first "soft landing" on the Moon by a commercially manufactured and operated vehicle and the first under NASA's Artemis lunar program, as the US races to return astronauts to Earth's natural satellite before China lands its own crewed spacecraft there.
Landing attempt one month after failure The IM-1 mission comes about a month after the lunar lander of another firm, Astrobotic Technology, suffered a propulsion system leak on its way to the Moon shortly after being placed in orbit on January 8 by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket making its debut flight.
The malfunction of Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, which was also flying NASA payloads to the Moon, was the third time a private company had failed to achieve a lunar touchdown, following ill-fated efforts by companies from Israel and Japan.
Those mishaps illustrated the risks NASA faces in leaning more heavily on the commercial sector than it had in the past to realise its spaceflight goals.
Although considered an Intuitive Machines mission, the IM-1 flight is carrying six NASA payloads of instruments designed to gather data about the lunar environment ahead of NASA's planned first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon later this decade.
NASA announced last month that it was delaying its target date for a first crewed Artemis landing from 2025 to late 2026, while China has said it was aiming for 2030.
Small landers are expected to get there first, carrying instruments to closely survey the lunar landscape, its resources and potential hazards. Odysseus will focus on space weather interactions with the Moon's surface, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies and navigation.
To date, spacecraft from just five countries have ever landed on the Moon — the United States, the former Soviet Union, China, India and, most recently just last month, Japan.
Moon Landing Ping!....................
That thing looks like a genuine contraption.
...focusing on weather. How long until some idiot claims we are causing climate change on the Moon?
I thought someone did already?
I would honestly be amazed if someone hasn’t.
Form follows function......................
I guess an orbit is preferable to the meteor technique.
I remember the old Ranger moon explorers.................
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ranger.html
Downright auspicious! So many positive waves:
"Intuitive Machines"
"Columbia"
Oh sure, on the face it's just a sportswear brand i.e. sponsor advertising, yet...
Columbia = "dove"
Columbia = the female personification-spirit of America.
Columbia was the name of the CM that took the first men to the Moon.
So I'm gonna think good thoughts about Odysseus. Spoilers may wish to counter with STS-107, but the shuttle wasn't headed to the Moon. Or hey what about Apollo 13's Odyssey...
The Can-Do people showed how their Yankee Ingenuity brought the Odyssey safely back home, so there's that.
Positive waves, Baby.
Burning Bridges - Mike Curb Congregation - 1 Hour Version
"The welcome mat is out and you're coming home!" ~ Mr. B
WOW! Thanks for posting.
Just a production for the many fanatics. One gigantic Grift!
👍👍👍👍👍
20 minutes till landing
PDI 9 minutes till landing
LANDING
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