After 50 years America is back on the moon. On Thursday, a spacecraft developed and piloted by the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines made landfall close to the moon’s south pole, marking the first private sector and US lunar landing since 1972.
After 50 Years America is Back on the Moon
NASA celebrated the landing as a significant step toward its aim of deploying a group of private spacecraft on scientific reconnaissance missions to the moon before an expected return of astronauts later this decade. NASA had many research instruments aboard the vehicle.
However, following Thursday’s landing, some initial communication issues prompted concerning whether the car might have been damaged or hindered in some manner. In a live webcast of the landing from Intuitive Machines’ mission operations center in Houston, the company and NASA commentators stated that the unmanned, six-legged robot lander, named Odysseus, came down at approximately 6.23 pm US Eastern (1.23 am Friday SAST).
Reports Show that the Landing Concluded a Suspenseful Final Approach
The landing concluded a suspenseful final approach and descent during which an issue with the spacecraft’s autonomous navigation system arose, forcing ground engineers to use an unproven workaround at the last minute.
In addition, it took some time to establish contact with the spacecraft again and learn its fate following a predicted radio blackout that occurred 384,000 kilometers from Earth.
It also took some time for radio contact with the spacecraft to resume following a predicted radio blackout. According to the webcast, when contact was eventually established again, the signal was weak, indicating that the lander had indeed touched down but leaving mission control instantly unsure of the exact state and position of the vehicle.
Thomas Zurbuchen Explains that the Spacecraft May Have Landed Close to Something Else that Obscured
Tim Crain, mission director of Intuitive Machines, was heard saying to the operations center, “Our equipment is on the surface of the moon, and we are transmitting, so congratulations IM team.” “We’ll see what more we can get from that,” he added.
According to Thomas Zurbuchen, a former NASA science head who directed the development of the agency’s commercial moon lander program, the spacecraft may have landed close to a crater wall or something else that obscured or impinged on its antenna, despite the feeble signal.
In a phone conversation, he stated, “Sometimes it could just be one rock, one big boulder, that’s in the way.” The lander’s primary task of deploying its payloads and achieving science objectives may become more difficult as a result of this problem, according to Zurbuchen.
He added, “accomplishing the landing is “a major intermediate goal, but the goal of the mission is to do science, and get the pictures back and so forth.” “Odysseus has taken the moon,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson declared as he instantly applauded Thursday’s accomplishment, calling it a “triumph.”
On the social media site X later that night, the business announced that flight controllers “have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data.”
The Touchdown on Thursday was the first Controlled Descent of a US Spacecraft Since 1972
The webcast stated that the spacecraft was thought to have landed as intended at a crater known as Malapert A close to the moon’s south pole. A week after its launch from Florida and one day after reaching lunar orbit, the spacecraft made a landing, however, it was not intended for live video broadcasting.
The touchdown on Thursday was the first controlled descent of a US spacecraft to the lunar surface since NASA’s final crewed moon mission, Apollo 17, which landed there in 1972 with astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.
Only four other nations’ spacecraft have made lunar landings to date: the former Soviet Union, China, India, and, most recently, Japan, who did so only last month. The United States of America is the only nation to have sent men to the moon.
Prior to the sun setting over the arctic landing site, Odysseus is carrying a suite of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA and a number of commercial customers. These are intended to run on solar energy for seven days.
NASA Payload Focuses on Radio Astronomy in Preparation for the Next Mission
In preparation for upcoming landing missions, the NASA payload focuses on radio astronomy, space weather interactions with the lunar surface, and other elements of the lunar environment. Last Thursday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX business flew Odysseus to the moon atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Its arrival signified the first-ever “soft landing” on the moon by a vehicle produced and operated for commercial use, as well as the first under NASA’s Artemis lunar program. This is significant since the US is racing China to land its crewed spacecraft on Earth’s satellite before the US does.
NASA Plans to Land its First Crewed Artemis in Late 2026 as Part of a Long-term Lunar Exploration Program
As a first step toward eventually sending humans to Mars, NASA plans to land its first crewed Artemis in late 2026 as part of a long-term, continuous lunar exploration program. The endeavor concentrates on the south pole of the moon in part because of a rumored abundance of frozen water that can be utilized for both rocket fuel production and life support.
Under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, several small landers, including Odysseus, are anticipated to clear the way.
This program aims to transport hardware and experiments to the moon at a lower cost than the US space agency’s conventional approach of developing and launching those vehicles directly. Relying too much on smaller, less experienced private ventures carries some risks.
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