The commercial US lunar lander “Odysseus” was supposed to herald the US return to Earth’s satellite, but now the mission could end much sooner than planned. The reason is apparently human error.
Odysseus was actually supposed to send data to Earth for seven days, but the mission definitely doesn’t go according to plan. Reason for this: During landing, a laser ranging device apparently malfunctioned, causing the lander to descend faster than planned, get caught and fall on its side.
Lander has lost power
This means that not all antennas can be used for transmission – and that the solar panels are no longer in sunlight. As the American company Intuitive Machines explained, it will probably not be possible to communicate with the lander until Tuesday morning (Houston, Texas local time).
Important switch can only be operated by hand
As is now known, the reason for the emergency landing was extremely banal. It wasn’t the technology that failed the plane, but rather human error. Before the start, the designers turned off the state-of-the-art laser navigation system with a switch so that the lasers did not pose a hazard to the eyes during work. Unfortunately, they apparently forgot to flip the switch before starting – but this can only be done by hand.
The fact that the lander reached the moon’s surface relatively unscathed is thanks to an experimental navigation system from NASA. While “Odysseus” was still landing, he activated and brought the lander, albeit roughly, to the ground.
Mission not entirely in vain
Of course, the mission was not entirely in vain. Only on Monday did the company publish the first low-resolution photo that “Odysseus” took after landing. The lander also transmitted images of its descent into the Malapert-A crater, Intuitive Machines said on X.
Source: Krone
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