Final images from Odysseus, lying on its side
Click for original picture.
In a press conference yesterday, NASA and the private company Intuitive Machines released three pictures taken by the Odysseus lunar lander after it came down a bit too fast, skidded on the ground so that one leg broke, and then tilted over.
The first images from the lunar surface are now available and showcase the orientation of the lander along with a view of the South Pole region on the Moon. Intuitive Machines believes the two actions captured in one of their images enabled Odysseus to gently lean into the lunar surface, preserving the ability to return scientific data.
The best picture, reduced and annotated to post here, is to the right. The spacecraft is tilted about 30 degrees from the vertical. Another picture showed the broken leg on the lander’s other side. The “two actions” mentioned in the NASA quote above refer to the issues that caused the broken leg: the limited ground data the lander used to land, and its larger than expected lateral speed.
The spacecraft is expected to be shut down by today because of lack of power and the advent of the long lunar night. Company officials remain hopeful it will come back to life when the sun rises in several weeks.
Officials from both NASA and Intuitive Machines have correctly noted that this was an engineering test mission, so even these failures make it a success in that the company can use them to improve the next lander. Nonetheless, it would have been nice if things had worked better on this first flight, especially because the problem that led to all the breakdowns, the failure to turn the lander’s range finding system back on after installation on the rocket, was an incredibly stupid human error that should not have happened at all.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Click for original picture.
In a press conference yesterday, NASA and the private company Intuitive Machines released three pictures taken by the Odysseus lunar lander after it came down a bit too fast, skidded on the ground so that one leg broke, and then tilted over.
The first images from the lunar surface are now available and showcase the orientation of the lander along with a view of the South Pole region on the Moon. Intuitive Machines believes the two actions captured in one of their images enabled Odysseus to gently lean into the lunar surface, preserving the ability to return scientific data.
The best picture, reduced and annotated to post here, is to the right. The spacecraft is tilted about 30 degrees from the vertical. Another picture showed the broken leg on the lander’s other side. The “two actions” mentioned in the NASA quote above refer to the issues that caused the broken leg: the limited ground data the lander used to land, and its larger than expected lateral speed.
The spacecraft is expected to be shut down by today because of lack of power and the advent of the long lunar night. Company officials remain hopeful it will come back to life when the sun rises in several weeks.
Officials from both NASA and Intuitive Machines have correctly noted that this was an engineering test mission, so even these failures make it a success in that the company can use them to improve the next lander. Nonetheless, it would have been nice if things had worked better on this first flight, especially because the problem that led to all the breakdowns, the failure to turn the lander’s range finding system back on after installation on the rocket, was an incredibly stupid human error that should not have happened at all.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Given that the moon’s surface is strewn with boulders, impact craters etc – am I the only person that thought this lander’s leg width was too thin? I’m thinking the bottom of the lander should be spread out more to help prevent toppling over.
I’m not an engineer.
With all of the positioning instruments that went south just before landing, I’m amazed that it made it in the shape it’s in and not strewn across the landscape.
Has anyone commented on the supposed fact that it landed over a kilometer from it’s target?
Was this due to the primary navigation system being unavailable?