Space travel
After the moon landing: Hope for a second life for “Odysseus”
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar module image of Schomberger Crater on the Moon. photo
© -/Intuitive Machines via AP/dpa
Since the first commercial moon landing around a week ago, “Odysseus” has been sending data to Earth, but the batteries will probably soon run out. The engineers are now hoping for a second chance.
After the first successful commercial With the moon landing, the US company Intuitive Machines and the US space agency NASA are hoping for a second life for the lander “Odysseus”. As expected, the lander’s solar batteries would probably go empty on Thursday night because the sun no longer reached the landing site, said Intuitive Machines and NASA.
However, it is hoped that the lander, which is nicknamed “Odysseus” or “Ody”, may be able to be contacted again when the sun reaches its location again in around two weeks.
Team speaks of a “very successful mission”
“We’ll pack Ody up for the cold and see if we can wake him up again when the sun comes back,” said Steve Altemus, head of Intutive Machines. It is by no means certain that it will work due to the possible effects of the cold on the batteries, but they decided to try it in order to possibly be able to collect further data.
Overall, it has been a “very successful mission” so far, said Altemus. “What a great job this resilient and courageous lander has done.” Last week, “Odysseus,” the first US device to land on the moon in more than 50 years. However, according to Intuitive Machines, “Odysseus” tilted slightly when it touched down and is now tilted.