Posted on 02/23/2024 5:25:24 PM PST by Twotone
A private robotic rover touched down on the moon Thursday, becoming the first US spacecraft in more than 50 years to land on the lunar surface.
The landing of the vehicle, built by Intuitive Machines, also marked the first time in history a private company successfully pulled off the incredible feat.
The craft – dubbed Odysseus – landed some 250,000 miles away near the south pole of the moon around 6:23 p.m. ET — although communication between the rover and crews on the ground were weak, officials said.
“We’re evaluating how we can refine that signal,” said mission director Tim Crain. “But we can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the moon.”
At mission control in Houston, tensions rose as controllers anxiously awaited a signal to shoot back from the craft, which finally responded about 10 minutes later.
The lander had been circling the moon in orbit before descending down toward the moon’s crater-filled surface looking for a smooth landing spot.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Where has it been the last 50+ years?
Odysseus touched down on the moon in 1972? I didn’t know that.
Dang, you beat me by SIX SECONDS! Ya gotta be quick around here!
From what I’ve heard, it’s laying on its side.
Well dang, those moon communications 50 years ago were strong.
What happened?
No body landed on the moon!
Can you believe that this article does not even mention that there was a known communications problem last night with the mission. It makes me realize I need to be careful with the NY post. They omit information. If they could do that with this than they could do it for any story.
“Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tipped over on the moon during ‘spicy’ lunar landing”
https://www.space.com/intuitive-machines-odysseus-moon-lander-tipped-over
Intuitive Machines: Odysseus Moon lander ‘tipped over on touchdown’
>>>
The Odysseus Moon lander is likely lying on its side with its head resting against a rock.
The US spacecraft, which made history on Thursday by becoming the first ever privately built and operated robot to complete a soft lunar touchdown, is otherwise in good condition.
Its owner, Texan firm Intuitive Machines, says Odysseus has plenty of power and is communicating with Earth.
Controllers are trying to retrieve pictures from the robot.
Steve Altemus, the CEO and co-founder of IM, said it wasn’t totally clear what happened but the data suggested the robot caught a foot on the surface and then fell because it still had some lateral motion at the moment of landing.
>>>
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68388695
I heard they’re going to deploy the EagleCam, a project built by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, tomorrow to see how it all looks up there and how badly it’s tipped.
They were supposed to launch the EagleCam before it touched down but didn’t due to all these landing/navigation problems they were having. Now it looks like they can use it to diagnosis how things are.
I tried to find an image of the lander showing where the EagleCam is located on the lander, but, no luck.
Hopefully it’s not up against a rock...
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