Odysseus Module Lands on Moon and Sends First Images Despite Fall: Intuitive Machines Mission Update

1 of 2 Image captured by the Odysseus module shows the Moon’s soil — Photo: Intuitive Machines Image captured by the Odysseus module shows the Moon’s soil — Photo: Intuitive Machines

The lunar module Odysseus fell on the Moon after landing on Thursday night (22). Despite this, the company responsible for the mission stated that the equipment is “alive and well”. The first image of the module on the Moon was released this Friday (23).

Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus said he believes the spacecraft landed on an area of ​​uneven ground, tipping over and resting on a rock. The landing was made close to the planned location, at the south pole of the Moon.

“We have communications with the lander,” Altemus said. He also revealed that the controllers are able to send commands to the vehicle.

2 of 2 Intuitive Machines lunar module approaching the Moon — Photo: Intuitive Machines/Nasa Intuitive Machines lunar module approaching the Moon — Photo: Intuitive Machines/Nasa

Intuitive Machine also said that engineers detected a human error that caused problems in the spacecraft shortly before landing. Still, they managed to improvise an emergency solution to avoid an accident and save the mission.

Despite the fall after landing, the company stated that it managed to assemble five of the six technology payloads sent by NASA to the Moon. On the other hand, two of the module’s antennas were pointed towards the surface, which could make communication difficult.

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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2024-02-24 05:20:27
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