Temporarily suspends operation during the night of the lunar cycle
Intuitive Machines’ (IM) lunar probe ‘Odysseus’ (Nova-C), which succeeded in being the first American private company to land on the moon, stopped operating as it entered the night of the lunar cycle.
According to Space.com, an American space media outlet, on the 29th (local time), IM stopped Odysseus operation on this day before the moon night began.
IM shared a photo received before Odysseus stopped working through SNS “I hope to hear from you again.”
Odysseus was launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the 15th. She arrived in lunar orbit on the 21st and landed a day later near the crater ‘Malaput A’, 300 km from the lunar south pole.
A few hours after landing, IM discovered that the laser rangefinder that provided altitude and horizontal speed readings during descent was not working, so it instead used an experimental LIDAR instrument mounted on Odysseus by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
There was also a problem with the navigation, which affected the smooth landing. Odysseus landed slightly earlier than planned on the 22nd, and is understood to have crashed into the lunar surface in the process, breaking one or two of her six legs and eventually falling over on her side.
Because of this, it had difficulty collecting the sunlight necessary for operation, but it completed the entire planned mission period and entered sleep.
IM plans to reactivate Odysseus in two to three weeks. NASA is optimistic that Odysseus will be operational again when the lunar night ends.
The unmanned lunar probe ‘SLIM’, which succeeded in landing on the moon for the first time in Japan, also landed in a collapsed position, repeating dormant and active states as night and day continue on the moon.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.