1 of 1 Intuitive Machines lunar lander approaching the Moon — Photo: Intuitive Machines/Nasa Intuitive Machines lunar lander approaching the Moon — Photo: Intuitive Machines/Nasa
The Intuitive Machines space mission, which sent a module to the Moon, will be interrupted five days after landing on Earth’s natural satellite. The company stated that it should lose contact with the probe on Tuesday (27), as the equipment fell onto lunar soil.
Even though the controllers managed to land the module, the probe fell onto a rock, which caused problems in sending data, as two of the probe’s antennas were pointed downwards.
NASA’s expectation was that the module would operate for a period of seven to 10 days. The probe was supposed to collect data on the lunar environment in preparation for sending a manned mission to the Moon scheduled to take place by 2026.
It is not yet clear whether there will be a loss of scientific data with the premature termination of the mission.
“Flight controllers intend to collect data until the module’s solar panels are no longer exposed to light. Based on the positioning of the Earth and Moon, we believe flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning,” the company said.
Intuitive Machines said human error led to the flight failure of the spacecraft’s laser-guided rangefinders. Rangefinders are responsible for providing altitude and speed information to the mission’s navigation system.
On Friday (23), the company said the laser rangefinders were inoperative because engineers did not unlock the safety switch before launch on February 15. This flaw was only detected shortly before the landing on the Moon.
US returns to the Moon after private company probe lands
The landing on lunar soil was the first conducted by the United States since Apollo 17, in 1972. The NASA mission carried out 51 years ago carried astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. Since then, no human has returned to the natural satellite.
The module entered the Moon’s orbit on Wednesday (21) and circulated approximately 92 km from the satellite’s surface. The company reported that it was successfully receiving images and data from the flight.
The mission, called IM-1, has a landing module more than four meters tall and carried six loads of instruments to collect data on the lunar environment.
The sending of the module led by Intuitive Machines and supported by NASA aims to prepare for sending astronauts to the Moon by 2026, through the Artemis 2 mission.
Before man’s return to the Moon, NASA chose to hire private companies to take equipment to the natural satellite. In the case of Intuitive Machines, this was the company’s first attempt at a lunar mission.
Recently, India and Japan also managed to successfully land on the Moon.
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2024-02-27 01:57:00
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