Odysseus probe has first images on the Moon released – 02/28/2024 – Science

Intuitive Machines stated, this Wednesday (28), that the achievement of a private company alunissar ushers in a robust and prosperous economy. The company also released three photos of Odysseus on its descent and in later moments, with the ship already on the surface.

“We changed the economics of a moon landing,” said Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, during a press conference held in partnership with NASA. “We open the doors to a robust and prosperous economy in the future.”

Both Altemus and Joel Kearns, representative of the American space agency’s exploration area, highlighted that they consider the mission a success.

Sue Lederer, NASA’s CLPS (acronym for commercial lunar cargo services) project scientist, stated that, during the journey to the satellite, the agency was able to normally operate all of the cargo present on the Odysseus. During the landing and after it, it was also possible to obtain data on the charges present on the probe.

Altemus stated that the module, for now, continues to produce energy from sunlight, but the moment is already projected when this will stop happening. From there, the company will put the probe to “sleep”.

The idea, after that, is to try to revive it — something similar to what happened with the recent Japanese landing — as soon as the solar panels are illuminated again, according to Altemus, in two or three weeks.

There is a risk, however, that it will not be possible to wake up the module after the extremely cold lunar night. According to Tim Crain, CTO (director of technology) and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, the central problem is whether the batteries will be able to survive the level of cold to which they will be exposed — and for which they have not been tested — to receive energy from the panels. solar.

“It’s a chemical aspect [das baterias]. This chemistry doesn’t respond well to deep cold,” Crain said.

The company’s co-founder highlighted that, despite being considered a private landing, there was the participation of NASA, several government agencies and other nations, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Africa, India.

Last Thursday (22), Odysseus became the first commercial probe to land on the Moon, marking the United States’ return to Earth’s natural satellite after 51 years.

The probe, more than four meters tall, however, had a problem landing. It was supposed to end up in a vertical position on lunar soil, but ended up falling on its side.

Intuitive Machines representatives stated that, in total, the mission went through 11 critical moments, which had to be overcome to carry out the landing.

Initially, the probe’s operations on the lunar soil were expected to last about seven days. However, this Tuesday (27), the company stated that batteries, powered by solar energy, could last for another 10 or 20 hours, adding that they were still trying to determine the exact moment at which they would run out.