Posted on 02/23/2024 5:42:18 PM PST by Red Badger
Feb 23 (Reuters) - The moon lander dubbed Odysseus is "alive and well" but resting on its side a day after its white-knuckle touchdown as the first private spacecraft ever to reach the lunar surface, and the first from the U.S. since 1972, the company behind the vehicle said on Friday. The vehicle is believed to have caught one of its six landing feet on the lunar surface near the end of its final descent and tipped over, coming to rest sideways, propped up on a rock, an analysis of data by flight engineers showed, according to Houston-based Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O), opens new tab. Still, all indications are that Odysseus "is stable near or at our intended landing site" close to a crater called Malapert A in the region of the moon's south pole, said Stephen Altemus, chief executive officer of Intuitive Machines, which built and flew the lander. "We do have communications with the lander," and mission control operators are sending commands to the vehicle, Altemus said, adding that they were working to obtain the first photo images from the lunar surface from the landing site. A brief update on the mission's status posted to the company's website earlier on Friday described Odysseus "alive and well." The company had said shortly after touchdown on Thursday that radio signals indicated Odysseus, a 13-foot-tall hexagonal cylinder, had landed in an upright position, but Atlemus said that faulty conclusion was based on telemetry from before the landing. Although the lander's horizontal position is far from ideal, company officials said that all but one of the six NASA science and technology payloads were mounted on portions of the vehicle left exposed and receptive to communications, "which is very good for us," Altemus said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Back in January, a test Moon lander named SLIM landed on the Moon. Even though it landed upside down, it still functioned. It deployed 2 tiny rovers, one of the rovers is shaped like a ball. It was able to take photos of the upside-down SLIM.
Remember, much of the current activity is testing and proof-of-concept experimentation. Even the mighty Starship and Superheavy are still in the development/testing stages.
Before the Mercury astronauts climbed on top of the rocket, I remember many rocket tests where the rocket exploded. The bravery of those first spacemen was incredible.
Good idea......................
Camera will be taking pics of the sky and very close ups of dirt. Makes the Apollo missions even more remarkable.
Time to rename “Odysseus” as “Brandon.”
Just like Odysseus, stranded on a beach, waiting to be rescued by Nausicaa and her retinue of fair maidens.
Sheila Jackson Lee wants to know if the Mars rover can come and straighten it back up.
Great minds think alike.
I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up
The landing was as goofy as the head of NASA
Simple and effective, well done!
Derp ping
That is certainly true!!
He had to clear obstacles as they landed too. He had to land long to avoid craters and boulders.
Advocates of unmanned aircraft should take note of this. The most advanced computer in an aircraft or spaceship is the human operator. They routinely deal with issues that artificial intelligence can't handle.
was the Odysseus designed to lift off or return to earth?
Nope, it stays where it lays.
Until some future archaeologists bring it to the Lunar Museum in Luna City..................
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/science/india-moon-landing-photos.html
Nice
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