As it turns out, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft did not land vertically.in Press conference On Friday evening, the company, in collaboration with NASA, revealed that the lander had turned on its side after arriving a little earlier than expected and may have tripped on the water at the moment of landing. Fortunately, Odysseus was in such a position that his solar panels still received enough light from the sun to keep them charged, and the team was able to communicate with him. Photos from the surface should also be released soon.
Initial assessments indicated that Odysseus had landed properly, but further analysis showed otherwise. Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, said the previous readings were due to “stale telemetry.”
However, all payloads point upwards, except for Jeff Koons’ moon phase sculpture, which is a static art installation. The lander and its NASA science payload are collecting data from the journey, descent, and landing, which the team will use to try to better understand what happened. But all things considered, things seem to be going well.
The research team plans to release the Eagle Cam, developed by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, to be able to take photos of the lander and its surroundings, possibly as soon as this weekend. It was scheduled to be released during descent to capture the moment of landing, but due to problems on the day of touchdown, it could not be released.
As Odysseus entered lunar orbit and was hours away from landing, researchers discovered that its laser rangefinder, the key to accurate navigation, was not working. This was entirely due to human error. Altemus said someone forgot to turn on the safety switch that could turn it on, so it couldn’t be turned on. Artemus said the realization was “like a punch in the gut” and they thought they could lose their mission.
Thankfully, the team was able to make some last-minute adjustments on the fly thanks to Tim Crain, CTO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines. Tim Crain suggested using one of his payloads aboard NASA, the Navigation Doppler LIDAR, instead of guiding the descent. (National Diet Library). In the end, Odysseus arrived safely. The mission is expected to last a little more than a week until the moonlit night arrives.
