With the Odysseus Mission Officially Done, They Begin to Eye the Next

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander is not answering their calls, despite hopes that its solar system would possibly provide enough juice to answer the phone.

They called an official "time of death" on March 23, 10:30 CST, officially ending the program. Intuitive had hoped that changing sun angles would hit the deployed panels just right, providing enough power to power up the radio and get in one last transmission. It was known to be a bit of a long shot, since the batteries of the lander were already depleted not long after it landed.

"As previously announced on February 29th, our IM-1 mission ended seven days after landing, as Odysseus' mission was not intended to survive the harsh temperatures of the lunar night," the firm said in a release officially capping the IM-1 mission. "Before its batteries were depleted, flight controllers tucked Odie into a configuration that could call home if various systems outperformed manufacturer expectations. Intuitive Machines started listening for Odie's wake-up signal on March 20, when we projected enough sunlight would potentially charge the lander's power system and turn on its radio."

Now, they confirmed, "flight controllers decided their projections were correct, and Odie's power system would not complete another call home. This confirms that Odie has permanently faded after cementing its legacy into history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon."

The lander had whiffed it upon landing thanks to some safety features remaining on. While on Earth, Odysseus' laser rangefinders were put into a lockout mode to protect technicians' eyeballs from being fried while working on the system...and nobody remembered to turn off before launch. The result was a "success" in some terms, as NASA and Intuitive Machines got most of their homework done - they got their ship on the lunar surface in one piece, intact, and functional in most respects. It didn't end in a splatter like some competing missions in the past, and they learned enough (and funded enough) to get another crack at the challenge. Intuitive Machines already has two more missions scheduled through the rest of 2024, which will take place under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

FMI: www.intuitivemachines.com