Moon lander tipped sideways on lunar floor however ‘alive and nicely’

The moon lander dubbed Odysseus is “alive and well” however resting on its aspect a day after its white-knuckle landing as the primary non-public spacecraft ever to succeed in the lunar floor, and the primary from the U.S. since 1972, the corporate behind the automobile stated on Friday.

The automobile is believed to have caught one in every of its six touchdown ft on the lunar floor close to the tip of its last descent and tipped over, coming to relaxation sideways, propped up on a rock, an evaluation of knowledge by flight engineers confirmed, in response to Houston-based Intuitive Machines.

Nonetheless, all indications are that Odysseus “is stable near or at our intended landing site” near a crater known as Malapert A within the area of the moon’s south pole, stated Stephen Altemus, chief government officer of Intuitive Machines, which constructed and flew the lander.

“We do have communications with the lander,” and mission management operators are sending instructions to the automobile, Altemus stated, including that they had been working to acquire the primary photograph pictures from the lunar floor from the touchdown website.

A quick replace on the mission’s standing posted to the corporate’s web site earlier on Friday described Odysseus “alive and well.”

The corporate had stated shortly after landing on Thursday that radio alerts indicated Odysseus, a 13-foot-tall hexagonal cylinder, had landed in an upright place, however Atlemus stated that defective conclusion was based mostly on telemetry from earlier than the touchdown.

Though the lander’s horizontal place is much from preferrred, firm officers stated that each one however one of many six NASA science and know-how payloads had been mounted on parts of the automobile left uncovered and receptive to communications, “which is very good for us,” Altemus stated.

“We think we can meet all the needs of the commercial payloads” as nicely, he added.

Much less promising was the truth that two of the spacecraft’s antennae had been left pointed on the floor, a circumstance that can restrict communications with the lander, Altemus stated.

Additionally the performance of a photo voltaic power panel on the highest of Odysseus, now going through the incorrect manner, is unsure, however a second array on the aspect of the spacecraft seems to be in working order, and the spacecraft’s batteries had been absolutely charged, he stated.

Intuitive Machines mission director Tim Crain stated the spacecraft, burning a propulsion gasoline of liquid methane and liquid oxygen for the primary time in house, “performed flawlessly” throughout its flight to the moon.

The uncrewed robotic spacecraft reached the lunar floor on Thursday after a nail-biting last method and descent during which an issue surfaced with the lander’s navigation system, requiring engineers on the bottom to make use of an untested work-around on the eleventh hour.

It additionally took a while after an anticipated radio blackout to re-establish communications with the spacecraft and decide its destiny some 239,000 miles (384,000 km) from Earth.

When contact was lastly renewed, the sign was faint, confirming that the lander had touched down however leaving mission management instantly unsure as to the exact situation and place of the automobile, firm officers stated throughout a webcast of the occasion on Thursday night.

Crain stated he believed that the payloads aboard the lander would have the ability to function for about 9 or 10 days, after which solar may have set on the polar touchdown website.

Shares of Intuitive Machines tumbled 30% in prolonged commerce on Friday, wiping out all their rally in Friday’s market session after the corporate stated its moon lander had tipped over.