Intuitive Machines, a private U.S. company has landed a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole on Feb. 22 – carrying with it a diverse payload including a piece of artwork, and a NASA LIDAR system. Good thing too because the on-board LIDAR system failed; mission engineers patched-in (hacked) the NASA system and were able to use that for the landing sequence. From what I read this only took them 2 hours to do, which is amazing!
However, the landing was not without drama. Communications with the spacecraft were not as expected; engineers were getting a signal that the lander was alive, but comms were not optimal. Most alarming was that engineers reported a yaw upon landing – indicating that the lander had likely tipped-over.
Scott Manley created a video describing what happened to the lander – including an animation from Kerbal Space Program where he simulates the landing, and the spacecraft tipping-over. He mentions that KSP players have “all been there,” and BOY have I ever!
When I showed a model of the Odysseus lander to my wife, her first comment was “Isn’t that going to be top-heavy?” and I laughed out loud because that was my first thought. When I design landers in KSP, I’ve learned to make sure the center-of-gravity of the vessel is as low as possible, and to come STRAIGHT down when landing – no sideways velocity.
That being said, it was technically a successful landing: the spacecraft didn’t break apart, and they do have communications. So that makes this the first U.S. spacecraft to successfully soft-land on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Intuitive Machines stock rose after the landing. Congratulations are in order.
The spacecraft was not designed to survive the 2 week-long lunar night… but I’m pretty sure engineers will try to find a signal from it again in mid-March.
Note: The text for this post came from my “President’s Field of View” article for the March 2024 issue of the Warren Astronomical Society’s award-winning newsletter.
