Intuitive Machines and NASA expect to share more photos from the Moon’s South Pole soon, even if the newly arrived Moon lander is sideways on the lunar surface.
After touching down near the lunar South Pole on Thursday, achieving the first private Moon landing, Intuitive Machines waited a handful of long minutes to confirm the spacecraft survived due to a communication loss. After waiting with bated breath, the signal was detected from the Goonhilly Earth Station radio telescope in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
So why haven’t we seen more photos from the Moon mission?
About 24 hours after the landing, Intuitive Machines and NASA released a photo taken during the landing sequence. It showed part of the spacecraft and the Schomberger Crater on the Moon. The company said the image was taken about 6 miles above the Moon.
INTUITIVE MACHINES RETURNS AMERICA TO MOON’S SURFACE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1972
However, other photos haven’t been released, partially because the team had to improvise when the spacecraft’s navigational laser failed. It’s also important to note that, unlike the Apollo missions, this is a private mission with NASA payloads onboard. NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to shuttle six payloads to the lunar South Pole as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
Thousands of photos were taken before the landing, according to Intuitive Machines Chief Technology Officer Tim Crain.
“We processed over 10,000 images on board with our own machine learning algorithms to manage the speed of the vehicle,” Crain said of the spacecraft’s autonomous navigation system.
During its descent phase, the spacecraft was designed to guide itself to the landing area known as Malapert using the Terrain Relative Navigation camera from Redwire Space. The high-definition camera looked for a safe landing spot free of craters, boulders and other hazards.
EagleCam, a camera from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was scheduled to deploy right before the landing. When complications with the navigation system arose, the university said the decision was made to power down the camera and not deploy the device during the final descent.
The camera was designed to photograph the lander’s positioning during and after the landing.
On Saturday, the EagleCam team said it is working closely with Intuitive Machines to deploy the camera “as soon as possible.” Simulations show that EagleCam could be deployed about 4.1 meters away from the lander.
“The goal is that the resulting images will provide critical insight into the lander’s orientation, health and additional mission support,” ERAU said.
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said during a news conference on Friday that they think the lander tipped over onto a Moon rock. Engineers believe this because fuel tank readings indicate the lander is on its side.
IM is now receiving data from the surface of the Moon. Altemus said Friday that teams are working to get surface photos downloaded from the spacecraft.
As for Odysseus’s position on the Moon, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is expected to fly over the landing site area this weekend and pinpoint the landing location.
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LRO confirmed a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) robotic Moon landing in January. JAXA’s SLIM lander toppled over during its landing, coming down on its nose. Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines’ mission is possibly sideways. Still, mission managers with both spacecraft say the landers achieved their primary goals. The Odysseus lander continues to power payloads on the Moon.
Even in 2024, Moon landings remain a major engineering challenge. Only about half of all Moon landing attempts dating back to the 1950s have been successful. Thursday’s private Moon landing by Houston-based Intuitive Machines marked the first American landing since Apollo 17 in more than 50 years.