Once again there is a race to go to the moon. Last year in August 2023, India’s Chandrayaan-3 had landed on the south pole of the Moon. After this, Japan’s lander had landed on the moon last month.
Now America has also come into this. The lander of an American private company has landed near the south pole of the moon. After 50 years, an American mission could land on the moon on Thursday. According to Indian time, it landed on the lunar surface at 4:30 am on Friday. Intuitive Machines, which built the spacecraft carrying the lander, confirmed that the lander had landed on the lunar surface, despite poor communication.
The company did not reveal much about the condition of the lander, nor did it give exact information about the location where it landed. The company stopped live telecast of the lander as soon as it gave information about its landing on the lunar surface.
Mission director Tim Crain said the team is working on how to interpret the only signal sent from the lander, named Odysseus. He said, ‘But we can confirm without a doubt that our instrument is on the surface of the Moon.’ While the company’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Altemus said, ‘I know the path forward is not clear but we are on the surface. and receiving communications. Welcome to the Moon.’
Lander landed after 50 years
Odysseus is a six-angled cylinder-shaped lander, which was launched on February 15. On February 21, it reached the Moon’s orbit within a week. Before this, America’s Apollo 17 mission had last landed on the Moon in 1972. Odysseus’ landing site area was a flat area near Malapert A crater, about 297 km north of the Moon’s south pole. Scientists are interested in the South Pole of the Moon because the craters here contain water in the form of ice. However, after landing here, Odysseus has a lot of work to do.
NASA sent payloads
LN-1: This is a small CubeSat sized hardware. Which is designed for radio navigation and communication. This technology will work automatically in future missions.
Laser retro-reflector array: This is a collection of eight retro-reflectors designed to direct light back to where it came from.
Navigation Doppler Lidar: LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging Payload, which is for determining precise altitude and speed during landing.
SCALPSS: SCALPSS consists of four small cameras mounted near the base of Odysseus that will capture images and footage of the landing. This will help in knowing how the smoke coming out of the engine interacts with the lunar surface.
Will it not pose a threat to nearby spacecraft or bases?
Radio Frequency Mass Gauge: A payload that uses radio waves and an antenna to accurately measure the amount of propellant in a spacecraft’s tanks. This system can be useful in long missions.
