Odysseus lunar lander sends back first pictures from the moon
Odysseus touched down on the moon mere days ago, and the lunar lander has captivated the hearts of Americans who are celebrating this epic feat — the first U.S. moon landing in over half a century. Now we are being treated to some amazing photos that the spacecraft has captured and transmitted to us earthlings.
This one, for example, is an image of the lunar lander itself — a selfie, of sorts — with some excellent detail of the moon’s surface:
“Odysseus is quite the photographer, capturing this image approximately 30 meters above the lunar surface while his main engine throttled down more than 24,000 mph,” Intuitive Machines wrote in their official caption. The Houston-based company constructed the lander and launched it to the moon.
The image above is another that was snapped by Odysseus itself. Intuitive Machines explains the shot was taken about 35 seconds after “pitching over during its approach to the landing site.”
Yes, in an unfortunate (and literal) turn of events, the “sideways landing” of Odysseus equates to its mission being truncated by two to three days. Intuitive Machines expects the lunar lander’s mission to end once its solar panels are no longer exposed to sunlight, likely sometime today, the morning of Feb. 27. Until then, they are hoping Odysseus can continue its job to collect information about the lunar surface.
Most recently, Intuitive Machines posted the following tweet on “Odie’s” current status:
Flight Controllers continue to communicate with Odysseus. This morning, Odysseus efficiently sent payload science data and imagery in furtherance of the Company’s mission objectives. Flight controllers are working on final determination of battery life on the lander, which may… pic.twitter.com/EbZ1NNOrvO
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 27, 2024
Although the spacecraft’s journey will come to an end sooner than anticipated, the good news is, Odysseus still managed to make history on several counts. One of which is by taking the descent image below:
On its descent to its Malapert A landing site, the lunar lander sent this record-making image. According to Intuitive Machines, this represents “the furthest south any vehicle has been able to land on the moon and establish communication with ground controllers.”
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