Intuitive machines Nova-C Odysseus: first images from the lunar surface and some news

Yesterday we published the latest images available at the time Intuitive Nova-C Odysseus lunar lander to IM-1 mission. As the company and NASA announced, a joint press conference was held today in which he participated First pictures captured by The surface of the moon More details have also been revealed about what happened from launch onwards, including the film's exciting milestonesLanding on the moon.

As noted during the conference, this was the first American mission since the end of the Apollo program to reach the surface of the Moon Luna (But it's also the first commercial mission to do so.) There were many on board Payloads from NASA Within the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. One of the most interesting parts were the images taken from the moon's surface.

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus new moon lander

the IM-1 mission It has an expected duration 144 raw (About 6 days) Thus, we are approaching the end of the scheduled part as mentioned Steve Altemus (The CEO of the company) That is, about 3 hours after this news was published. The manager confirmed that all useful data has been downloaded and will be essential for Future missions IM-2 and IM-3 which will also include landing vehicles larger than Nova-C (Nova-D). NASA was also able to download data from all payloads, allowing new scientific and engineering information to be obtained.

Lander landing on the moon with the thruster still running

Images downloaded from Landing on the moon using intuitive machines On February 27th. One shows the landing struts hitting the surface, absorbing shocks and preserving the most important components that were in the upper area during the landing on the moon on February 22. the Liquid methane/oxygen engine It performed well (despite some problems during orbital insertion maneuvers) considering it was real “First test in deep space” for this type of payment.

Also on February 27, one of them was arrested New image Which appears Landing tilt on its sideIt also assumes fuel level sensors, solar lighting, and how antennas transmit signals to Earth. the corner Mile And based on About 30 degrees This is due to a faster-than-expected descent with contact with solid ground due to an incorrect altitude measurement (“the system thought” that it was 100 meters from the surface at the moment of contact), anomalous lateral movement and finally with a relatively slow rollover associated with the presence of a slope (on which the vehicle rested and with an inclination of 30 degree). This placement ensures that the overhead solar panels (the ones that provide the most power) are in the shade.

Tim Crane (CTO and co-founder of the company) stated that The landing of intuitive machines It could have been My disc Correctly if the laser altimeter is working as expected. As we know, this was not possible as this device was disabled via hardware due to a pin used as a safety system when the lander was tested on Earth which served to prevent the laser from being inadvertently activated. This problem will be corrected in future missions.

The second picture shows the direction of the camera from which the picture was taken (picture above). In the third picture, the vehicle is tilted to the surface

Then confirm it Odysseus The installed NASA LIDAR system cannot be used as a payload. This was present and a software modification made it possible to replace it with the non-functioning laser altimeter. However, the lack of screening in the program means that the data is not taken into account by the aviation program. the Landing on the moon using intuitive machines So he used visual navigation alone with good success (but with the data provided by other tools things might have worked better).

As for EagleCamThis was ejected from the lander's body this morning but a malfunction in the camera or Wi-Fi connection did not allow further images to be taken. my boss Intuitive machines Hoping to be able to wake up Odysseus landing In about three weeks when the light illuminates the solar panels the batteries will be able to recharge. Obviously there is no certainty that this will happen, but an attempt will be made anyway. The maximum is determined by the chemistry used in the batteries, which must withstand the extreme cold of the lunar night for several days. Neither batteries nor electronic devices have been tested for these types of temperatures. The company reiterated that this was a test mission to test the new operational phase technologies in the field, and therefore the results should be considered positive (despite all the limitations imposed by the situation).