36 votes

US returns to the Moon with commercial moon landing (gifted link)

Posted by ackables
Tags: spaceflight.commercial, usa, spacex, moon, moon landing, intuitive machines, live updates, author.kenneth chang, source.the new york times, paywall.gifted
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/22/science/nasa-moon-landing-odysseus?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.--ND.rN1Ceo310DWy

Link information

This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.

Title
Moon Landing: The Spacecraft Odysseus Prepares for Its Shot at the Moon
Published
Feb 22 2024
Word count
372 words

10 comments

  1. [5]
    ackables
    Link
    On another note NYT commenters are particularly ignorant about space flight. Most space articles from NYT are filled with comments about why should people waste time and money on space exploration...

    On another note NYT commenters are particularly ignorant about space flight. Most space articles from NYT are filled with comments about why should people waste time and money on space exploration or rocket ships when there are problems on earth.

    Here’s a reason why science is important to do even if a particular advancement isn’t: Important discoveries are built on the work of seemingly insignificant or boring work.

    You can’t make groundbreaking discoveries in every paper. You have to research everything to find something that will have a big impact.

    17 votes
    1. [2]
      langis_on
      Link Parent
      I find most social media comments in general are pretty ignorant, but especially when it comes to space. I don't know if their voices are just amplified, or if there are really that many flat...

      I find most social media comments in general are pretty ignorant, but especially when it comes to space. I don't know if their voices are just amplified, or if there are really that many flat earthers/moon landing deniers. Either way, it's really depressing being excited for something that others just pretend doesn't exist.

      10 votes
      1. Fiachra
        Link Parent
        I think it's just that criticizing is one of the easiest things in the world to do, especially on social media. Look up comments on any article about a charitable cause or foundation and you'll...

        I think it's just that criticizing is one of the easiest things in the world to do, especially on social media. Look up comments on any article about a charitable cause or foundation and you'll find countless people saying "why help X when you could be doing Y". From people who do far less and therefore feel safe from criticism.

        4 votes
    2. turmacar
      Link Parent
      From memory the NYT itself issued an apology in the 70s(?) for saying that landing on the moon was both impossible and a huge waste of money. Spaceflight is notoriously hard to justify because the...

      From memory the NYT itself issued an apology in the 70s(?) for saying that landing on the moon was both impossible and a huge waste of money.

      Spaceflight is notoriously hard to justify because the benefits, like basically all blue-sky research, are hard to explain in simple terms to uninterested people. (trying to be nice)

      "Electricity research" and basically any other example would've/could've been cancelled if it had been done by public vote instead of interested privately funded enthusiasts. It's interesting/maddening to find opinion polls for things like the Apollo missions with razor thin approval margins that now everyone crows about as an obvious achievement. Including the people who argued against it at the time.

      7 votes
    3. Tiraon
      Link Parent
      I completely agree with the science bit. I just wanted to add other reasons why I personally think that space specifically is important. Having robust space presence would mean that our...

      I completely agree with the science bit. I just wanted to add other reasons why I personally think that space specifically is important.

      Having robust space presence would mean that our civilization is less fragile. Having industrial base in space would mean that we could for example deploy solar satellites in orbit, possibly solving our energy problems and with it being on better track to mitigate global warming.

      1 vote
  2. ackables
    Link

    For the first time in more than 50 years, an American spacecraft has landed on the moon.

    The lander, named Odysseus, was built by Intuitive Machines of Houston. Minutes after beginning its landing sequence at 6:11 p.m. Eastern time the spacecraft touched the ground, making it the first privately built spacecraft to land in one piece on the lunar surface.

    While the spacecraft is on the moon and transmitting signals to Earth, Tim Crain, the mission director and Intuitive Machines’ chief technology officer, said it was uncertain if the spacecraft would be able to achieve its objectives.

    The landing site was a flat area near the Malapert A crater, about 185 miles north of the moon’s south pole. The moon’s polar regions have attracted much interest in recent years because of water ice hidden in the shadows of craters there.

    Odysseus left Earth early on Feb. 15 aboard a SpaceX rocket. It pulled into lunar orbit on Wednesday. About 12 minutes before landing on Thursday, it fired its engine to begin its descent to the surface.

    From this point onward in the landing sequence, Odysseus was operating completely on its own, with flight controllers at Intuitive Machines’ control center powerless to change what happened.

    To accomplish the landing, Intuitive Machines had to overcome late technical issues with the flight. During the coverage of the landing, a company spokesman said a laser instrument on the spacecraft that was to provide data on its altitude and velocity was not working.

    That problem explained why the spacecraft took an extra orbit around the moon, which provided two hours for changes in the spacecraft’s software that allowed the use of an experimental NASA lidar instrument on the spacecraft instead.

    11 votes
  3. [2]
    updawg
    Link
    Here's a gifted link to replace the one in the original post: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/22/science/nasa-moon-landing-odysseus?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.--ND.rN1Ceo310DWy

    Here's a gifted link to replace the one in the original post:
    https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/22/science/nasa-moon-landing-odysseus?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.--ND.rN1Ceo310DWy

    7 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Thanks. Edited the topic link to that gifted one.

      Thanks. Edited the topic link to that gifted one.

      3 votes
  4. [2]
    blindmikey
    Link
    Did we confirm it landed as expected? The public feed ended rather abruptly after they lost communication during landing, and then had only just established signal not orientation or functions....

    Did we confirm it landed as expected? The public feed ended rather abruptly after they lost communication during landing, and then had only just established signal not orientation or functions. Then we got an abrupt outro by NASA.

    4 votes
    1. ackables
      Link Parent
      Yes the company confirmed it landed upright and was starting to send data.

      In a post on the social media site X, Intuitive Machines just announced that “Odysseus is upright and starting to send data.” The company said it is working on bringing the spacecraft’s first images from the moon’s surface to Earth.

      Yes the company confirmed it landed upright and was starting to send data.

      6 votes