The
Odysseus
lander
is
likely
to
remain
operating
for
another
24
hours
on
the
Moon’s
surface,
despite
being
tipped
over
onto
its
side.
Intuitive
Machines,
the
private
space
company
behind
Odysseus,
tweeted
a
few
images
taken
by
the
spacecraft
and
gave
more
updates
on
how
long
the
team
expects
it
will
remain
operational.
Because
of
Odysseus’
landing
position,
the
panels
and
antennas
aren’t
oriented
exactly
as
planned,
making
it
harder
for
it
to
generate
power
and
communicate.
Controllers
on
Earth
will
continue
to
collect
data
until
its
solar
panels
are
no
longer
exposed
to
sunlight,
which
they
anticipate
will
happen
on
Tuesday
morning.
The
landing
almost
didn’t
happen
at
all.
During
a
press
conference
Friday,
executives
explained
the
safety
switches
for
the
lander’s
two
range
finder
lasers
were
enabled,
meaning
they
couldn’t
be
used
to
guide
the
craft
during
its
landing,
The
New
York
Times
reports.
Luckily,
there
was
an
experimental
lidar
system
by
NASA
on
board
the
spacecraft.
Engineers
working
for
Intuitive
Machines
scrambled
last
minute
and
designed
a
software
patch
to
retrieve
the
required
altitude
and
velocity
data
from
the
NASA
system
to
ensure
the
spacecraft’s
safe
landing.
Intuitive
Machines
CEO
Steve
Altemus
also
confirmed
during
the
briefing
that
the
only
cargo
on
the
side
facing
down
is
a
piece
of
art
sent
by
a
commercial
customer,
referring
to
the
sculpture
of
125
miniature
moons
designed
by
the
artist
Jeff
Koons.
The
issues
with
Odysseus’
navigation
system
also
derailed
the
deployment
of
EagleCam,
a
camera
that
was
meant
to
be
ejected
during
the
lander’s
descent.
Intuitive
Machines
may
still
deploy
the
camera
at
a
later
date,
the
team
at
Embry‑Riddle
Aeronautical
University
that
developed
the
camera
told
CNBC.
(Originally posted by Amrita Khalid)
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