1st time ever for private industry! Odysseus, the US Commercial spacecraft lands on Lunar surface!

The spaceship Odysseus has been successfully landed on the lunar surface by intuitive machinery. The mission’s objectives include exploring the southern polar region of the Moon, researching the environment, gathering water ice for rocket fuel and drinking water, and helping to establish a lunar economy.

Odysseus
On February 21, Odysseus enters the lunar orbit and sails over the near side of the moon. Image Credits: Intuitive Machines

The United States has made its first lunar landing in more over 50 years thanks to a Houston-based corporation. This is a major step forward for NASA’s attempts to clear the path for crewed flights this decade, with Odysseus setting a new record for unmanned commercial robotic missions.

But it wasn’t immediately apparent whether the lander—which was constructed by an intelligent machine—was completely functional until flight controllers confirmed that they had received an ambiguous signal. Live broadcast commentators had warned that it would take a while to come off the lander.
The last few seconds of the spacecraft’s fall were not captured in an external “EagleCam” photograph that was not made public. Nothing is certain at the moment.

Tim Crane, the chief technology officer of the business, stated, “We’re excited that our hardware is on the lunar surface. Therefore, congrats to the IM team. Let’s see how much more we can accomplish with this.

The previous effort at a lunar landing by another American business, meant to show off what the private sector can do following NASA’s final human Apollo 17 mission in 1972, failed last month.
We are sending the present mission to the lunar south pole as the first of a series because we genuinely want to learn about the environmental conditions there before we deploy personnel there in the future, stated NASA Senior Official Joel Karna. “How hot or cold is it, what sort of dirt or dust is there, and what kind of radiation environment is there? You truly should be aware of all of these before dispatching the first group of human explorers.”

South Pole of the Moon Launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 15, Odysseus is equipped with a novel supercooled liquid oxygen and liquid methane propulsion system that enables it to travel fast across space. Malapert Mountain, where it landed, is a noticeable peak located 300 kilometers from the lunar south pole.

Odysseus Landing


In addition to hoping that Odysseus would gather ice for water and rocket propellant for Artemis’ main Moon-to-Mars program, NASA intends to build a long-term presence there.
A device to examine how the Moon’s surface changes as a result of the spacecraft’s engine plume and another to examine the charged dust particles suspended in the regolith as a result of solar radiation are two of the experiments carried by Odysseus.

It also has a NASA landing system that fires lasers to measure the period of flight for frequency changes and takes a while to return a signal to adjust the spacecraft’s speed and distance from the surface.
This gadget was only meant to be used as a display, but Odyssey was forced to rely on it the entire way after shutting off its own navigation system, which required controllers to upload a software patch to turn it on. Specialized Club The remaining cargo, which included 125 stainless steel micro moons created by artist Jeff Koons, was funded by Intuitive Machines’ private clients.

A philanthropist also constructed a storage vault with the intention of preserving human knowledge of the solar system. NASA has paid well-known vehicles $118 million to transport its hardware in an effort to save money and provide freight services to support the growing lunar economy.
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s first CLPS mission launched in January, but had to be aborted midway through its voyage back to Earth after a fire broke out in the Peregrine spacecraft during a test.

Lunar landing vehicles use thrusters to regulate their descent while navigating dangerous craters and rocks. They also need atmosphere, which is lacking in order to support parachutes. Thus far, over 50 efforts have been unsuccessful.

To yet, only space agencies from the US, the UK, China, India, Japan, and the USSR have joined together to pursue this project.



Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top