The Moon Landing: Imperfect, but Accomplished

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Odysseus lunar lander’s view of the moon’s Schomberger crater on Thursday, at about 6 miles altitude and approximately 125 miles uprange from the spacecraft’s intended landing site. (Intuitive Machines)

The United States is back on the Moon, even if the trip was bumpy. Plans to have pictures of the landing via the EagleCam were affected by a last minute switch to a NASA instrument that allowed Odysseus to safely land. The seems to be a fair trade, and the EagleCam can still be used to take pictures now that the lunar lander is stationary on the surface.

Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, which created the EagleCam, later noted:

…both the Intuitive Machines and EagleCam teams still plan to deploy EagleCam and capture images of the lander on the lunar surface as the mission continues. The time of deployment is currently unknown.

More importantly, Odysseus stumbled during the landing and is now tipped to one side. A tilted landing disabled the Japanese lunar lander earlier this year. Fortunately, the Odysseus’s solar panels are still catching the Sun’s rays and charging. This should allow the lander to conduct its work for about nine days until the Sun’s location will no longer charge the panels.

It seems the third try this year for the Moon’s south pole was precarious yet ultimately successful. That said, we are finding that the past successes are no guarantee of future success. This is the same region where NASA will be sending the Artemis astronauts. We need to get this right before we drop a crew on the Moon.

Pic of the Week: Odysseus Approaching the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A view of the Odysseus lunar lander as it flies over the near side of the moon on Wednesday. (Intuitive Machines/AP)

This week’s image come from Intuitive Machines and shows the Odysseus lunar lander orbiting the Moon just yesterday before its historic landing earlier today. After more than 50 years, the United States has returned to the Moon.

Earlier today, Intuitive Machines stated:

After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data…Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.

The Odysseus landed near the Malapert A crater, which is about 185 miles north of the Moon’s south pole.

Pic of the Week: The Launch of the IM-1 Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Today’s launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission from the Kennedy Space Center. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today)

This week’s image shows the early morning launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket carries the Nova-C robotic lander, also called “Odysseus,” that includes both NASA and commercial payloads. If all goes well, the lander will be on the surface of the moon next week.

This image from Florida Today is unique in that it is a time exposure showing both the launch from the Kennedy Space Center as well as the booster landing shortly afterward.

Credit: Intuitive Machines

All Eyes on the Next Moon Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (SpaceX)

The second NASA-related commercial Moon mission was set to launch earlier today, but SpaceX called it off at the last moment due to a methane issue with its Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is expected to try the launch tomorrow.

The launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission is related to NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, and will serve as one of the first lunar-based pieces of the Artemis program.

In terms of the main mission, NASA noted:

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander is expected to land on the Moon Thursday, Feb. 22. Among the items on its lander, the IM-1 mission will carry NASA science and technology instruments focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.

The Moon mission that failed last month was also part of NASA’s CLPS initiative. This program is off to a slow start, but hopefully it can be relied on to be a key component of the lunar space program going forward.

If you are looking for some good news, I can report that Russia’s Progress MS-26 International Space Station resupply mission successfully launched earlier today.

Space Stories: A Test of Space Suits, Water Detected on Asteroids, and China’s Growing Space Program

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Recent test of the space suit being built by Collins Aerospace. (Collins Aerospace)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—The Verge: “One of NASA’s New Spacesuits Passes Microgravity Test“

Collins Aerospace, a private company hired to create spacesuits for use outside the International Space Station (ISS), has tested its suit aboard a commercial microgravity flight, passing a milestone that lets engineers move forward toward critical design review…During the test, the plane executed “roller-coaster-like maneuvers” to induce weightlessness and allow someone wearing a prototype to see if it actually lets someone move around in it under those conditions.

—Newsweek: “NASA Data Detects Water on Asteroids for the First Time Ever“

Water has been found on the surface of two asteroids for the first time, scientists said in a new paper. Two silicate-rich asteroids were detected by the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that were giving off a specific wavelength of light that indicated the presence of molecules of water, according to research published in The Planetary Science Journal. The discovery may have major implications for theories about how water initially made its way to our own planet. It could have been delivered via asteroid impact.

—Astronomy.com: “China is Embarking on a Science and Exploration Program of Staggering Scale“

When China’s first lunar lander, Chang’e 3, touched down in Mare Imbrium on the Moon in 2013, it was the pinnacle of the country’s space endeavors. The robotic lander and its small Yutu rover companion were the first spacecraft to operate on the Moon since the 1970s, and provided new insights into our planet’s natural satellite…Since then, China’s space activities have exploded in range, frequency, and ambition. The country now rivals the U.S. for the most launches per year, with around 80 missions having been planned for 2023. The nation has its own modular space station, named Tiangong, which is expected to be continuously occupied by a rotating crew of three astronauts for at least a decade.