And yet, the lander ended up lying on its side -- when it turned out, about nine hours before touchdown, that a hard wired safety switch on the laser guidance (to protect human eyes on the ground during the build) had not been shut off. . . so that laser guidance system had to swapped for a backup LiDAR, such that the team had to unload and reload software on the fly, and land using an older, back-up LiDAR system. Thus Odysseus set down on uneven ground, and tipped over. [The dark bottom half of the globe image at right is a fish-eye camera view of the lander, on its side.]
So yes -- quite a success -- but it also suggests that getting to Mars. . . with a crewed mission, probably sits out beyond 2035 (if at all). [The radiation exposure risk -- as we'd sail away from Earth's protective blankets. . . remains a largely unsolved technical problem, for human life, on a three year out and back journey.] But today, we celeberate another seven or so days of data being beamed home (albeit on a smaller pipe than hoped), per the NYT:
. . .The spacecraft, named Odysseus, set down in the moon’s south pole region on Thursday evening, the first U.S. vehicle to land softly on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
“The vehicle is stable near or at our intended landing site,” Steve Altemus, the chief executive of Intuitive Machines said during a NASA news conference on Friday. “We do have communications with the lander.”
He added, “That’s phenomenal to begin with.”
But the landing did not go perfectly. Because the spacecraft fell over, its antennas are not pointed directly at Earth, limiting the amount of information that can go back and forth. . . .
Now you know -- once again proving that "space is. . . hard." Even so, we are admiring about an inch of gleaming white snow here, under the bright morning sunshine. . . it will all be gone by afternoon, in the warmth -- but it renders all so quiet. . . and clean for the moment. Smile. . . .
नमस्ते
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