While Intuitive Machines soft-landing on the moon yesterday was successful, and the first by an American spacecraft in over fifty years, the news today is not all good: the company thinks that Odysseus, the company’s lunar lander is highly tilted or perhaps on its side.
In a NASA-hosted press conference late this afternoon, Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder, Steve Altemus said “We think we came down about 6 miles an hour [downwards towards the surface] and about 2 miles an hour [sideways] and caught a foot in the surface. And the lander has tipped [horizontally.] We believe this is the orientation of the lander on the moon.”
As he spoke, Altemus also showed a model of the lander in the orientation he believes that it is in:
Screencapture of NASA news conference from April 23, 2024
As to yesterday’s statement that Odysseus had landed in an upright condition, Altemus said “We thought we were upright. The reason was that the tanks were reading, [in] the X direction. And the tanks were reading, gravity on the moon, that the fill levels, [that] there were still residuals in the tank.”
He went on further to say yesterday’s announcement from IM that Odysseus was upright was incorrect after new data arrived and further review. “That was stale telemetry,” Altemus said. “When we worked through the night to get other telemetry [data] down, we noticed that in the Z-direction is where we’re seeing residual tank quantities. And so that’s what tells us, with fairly certain terms, the orientation of the vehicle.”
Screencapture from NASA livestream
In short, new information and further assessment led Intuitive’s engineers to change their assessment of the lander’s final position. That assessment could change further as new data becomes available.
“My theory is just a theory,” Altemus said. He added that analysis of data will continue, and that photographs will be taken to help clarify the final result.
Science Experiments Are Actively Collecting Data
Altemus added that not all is lost, and that the IM-1 mission is continuing. “The majority of our payloads are all in view, and we are collecting science,” he said.
He illustrated his point further later in the press conference. “Fortunately, for most [experiments aboard Odysseus] of the payloads exposed to the outside, above the surface.”
On its side, of course, one panel has to be downwards close to the lunar surface. “That panel has a single payload on it, and it’s not an operational payload. It’s a static payload and we’re going to try to take a picture of that payload if we can.” Altemus continued by adding that it is believed that the panel holds the artwork payload, the Moon Phases Pace Verso / 4Space / NFMoon Sculpture created by artist Jeff Koons.
From a science standpoint, this may be the best possible outcome, allowing active experiments to continue gather data given the position Odysseus is now resting in. Odysseus’ surface operations are expected to take place through Thursday, February 29th, after which the landing site will be in lunar night and without any power from solar panels. With no power, the spacecraft cannot continue operations.
Still Working On Photos
As to photos, Altemus said that “Now that we’re on the Goonhilly dish in the United Kingdom, we’re downloading data from the buffers in the spacecraft trying to get you surface photos because I know that everyone’s hungry for those surface photos.”
Landing Still A Success, But Not An Unqualified Success
Given the novel territory that Intuitive Machines was operating in — this was their first foray to the lunar surface — it is fair to say that while they successfully landed their spacecraft safely, it did not land in an optimal position. It is also fair to say that many of the science objectives can still be met before the mission concludes, but like the lander, they too may not achieve all of their objectives.
Intuitive Machines, NASA and scientists operating the experiments aboard Odysseus will learn a great deal. That knowledge will inform future missions and add to their chances of complete success.
