Cheyenne is Engadget’s weekend editor and covers a little bit of everything. She’s particularly interested in emerging technology and niche gadgets, climate change, space, privacy, and internet culture. She’ll talk your ear off about Tamagotchis if you get her started.
with NASA Friday evening, the company revealed the lander is laying on its side after coming in a little faster than expected, likely catching its foot on the surface at the moment of landing. Fortunately, Odysseus is positioned in such a way that its solar panels are still getting enough light from the sun to keep it charged, and the team has been able to communicate with it. Pictures from the surface should be coming soon.
While the initial assessment was that Odysseus had landed properly, further analysis indicated otherwise. Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus said “stale telemetry” was to blame for the earlier reading. All payloads except the one static art installation, though — Jeff Koons’ Moon Phases sculptures — are on the upturned side. The lander and its NASA science payloads have been collecting data from the journey, descent and landing, which the team will use to try and get a better understanding of what happened. But, all things considered, it seems to be doing well.
The team plans to eject the EagleCam, developed by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, so it can take a picture of the lander and its surroundings perhaps as soon as this weekend. It was supposed to be ejected during descent to capture the moment of landing, but issues on touchdown day prevented it from being released.
The team was thankfully able to make a last-second adjustment cooked up on the fly by Intuitive Machines CTO and co-founder Tim Crain, who suggested they use one of the on-board NASA payloads instead to guide the descent, the Navigation Doppler LIDAR . In the end, Odysseus made it there alright. Its mission is expected to last a little over a week, until lunar night falls.
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Watch Intuitive Machines' private Odysseus lander attempt historic moon landing todaySharmila is a Seattle-based science journalist. She found her love for astronomy in Carl Sagan's The Pale Blue Dot and has been hooked ever since. She holds an MA in Journalism from Northeastern University and has been a contributing writer for Astronomy Magazine since 2017. Follow her on Twitter at skuthunur.
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Intuitive Machines is taking its shot at nailing the first commercial moon landingCheyenne is Engadget’s weekend editor and covers a little bit of everything. She’s particularly interested in emerging technology and niche gadgets, climate change, space, privacy, and internet culture. She’ll talk your ear off about Tamagotchis if you get her started.
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Intuitive Machines’ moon lander sent home its first images and they’re breathtakingCheyenne is Engadget’s weekend editor and covers a little bit of everything. She’s particularly interested in emerging technology and niche gadgets, climate change, space, privacy, and internet culture. She’ll talk your ear off about Tamagotchis if you get her started.
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