MADRID, 24 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander, the first private spacecraft to land in a controlled manner on the moon, is “alive and well” although it capsized upon reaching the surface and is on its side, as explained by those responsible for the mission in a meeting informative.
This mission, which reached its goal on February 21, is the first US soft landing on the Moon in more than 50 years. “The flight controllers communicate and control the lander, which is charged with solar energy and has good telemetry,” according to the company responsible for the mission in its account on X, contracted by NASA to send technological and scientific demonstrators. to the lunar soil. It analyzes to what extent the position of the spacecraft on the lunar soil can affect the objectives of the mission.
On the other hand, an instrument that was intended to take remote images of the landing was not deployed due to complications in the ship’s internal navigation system.
This is EagleCam, built by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) that was designed to be deployed from Odysseus about 30 meters above the lunar surface and photograph the landing of the spacecraft from below. “Due to complications with Odysseus’ internal navigation system, specifically in regards to the software patching the navigation data to include NASA’s NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar) payload, which is intended to ensure a soft landing , the decision was made to turn off EagleCam during landing and not deploy the device during the final descent of Odysseus,” the ERAU explained in a statement.
“However, both the Intuitive Machines and EagleCam teams still plan to deploy EagleCam and capture images of the lander on the lunar surface as the mission continues,” according to the same sources.
The goal of the mission was to deliver payloads from NASA and commercial customers to a location near the Malapert A crater in the lunar south polar region. That area of ??the moon is of great interest because its cratered terrain is believed to contain water ice resources that could eventually be used to supply manned outposts. NASA hired Intuitive Machines to send its instruments to the Moon, in this first mission of the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Service) program.
The space agency’s payloads include a camera system designed to document dust plumes kicked up during landing, an experimental navigation radio beacon, a radio fuel gauge, a laser rangefinder, a laser reflector array and a sensor that will study the moon’s electron plasma environment. Data from the experiments could help NASA plan the Artemis program’s manned lunar landings, which could begin in 2026.
