SpaceX successfully launches a privately-funded spacecraft to the moon, marking a historic achievement in space exploration.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida on Thursday morning, illuminating the dark sky as it propelled a privately built robotic lander towards the moon. This mission aims to be the first American spacecraft to successfully land on the moon in over half a century.
SpaceX completed its second flight within a span of eight hours, after launching six U.S. Space Force satellites for missile detection and tracking on Wednesday evening. Additionally, a cargo ship from a Russian space station launched from Kazakhstan on late Wednesday EST.
SpaceX
The planned launch of a Falcon 9 on Wednesday, which was set to carry 22 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, was cancelled without any given reason.
Experienced a malfunction that ended the mission.
The launch on Thursday was successful, and the Odysseus lander from Intuitive Machines was released 48 minutes after liftoff to continue its journey independently. If everything goes according to plan, the spacecraft will enter the moon’s orbit and then land on its surface next Thursday, arriving about 186 miles away from the south pole.
Partially supported by NASA, the flight is a pioneer for the agency’s Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts to the southern polar region of the moon in the coming years. Instruments from NASA on board Odysseus will examine the lunar surroundings and trial necessary technologies for future missions.
In order to reach its designated landing spot, Odysseus will utilize a powerful 3D-printed main engine that will burn liquid oxygen and methane propellants. This is the first instance of a deep space mission using this type of engine. SpaceX experienced a delay in launch due to difficulties with properly chilling the methane fuel for the lander, but as of Thursday, there were no reported problems.
Odysseus has 12 total payloads on board, consisting of six NASA instruments and six commercial payloads. These include sculptures, a cloud storage technology demonstration, insulation blankets from Columbia Sportswear, and a student-designed camera package that will take photos during the lander’s descent.
One of the experiments conducted by NASA includes a tool to examine the electrically charged particles present on the surface of the moon. Another experiment will evaluate navigation methods and utilize downward-facing stereo cameras to capture images of the lander’s engine exhaust impacting the soil at the landing location.
Intuitive Machines
Additionally included is a cutting-edge sensor that will utilize radio frequency to precisely measure the remaining amount of cryogenic fuel in a tank in the zero-gravity conditions of outer space. This technology is anticipated to be beneficial for upcoming lunar expeditions and other extended journeys into deep space.
The team behind Odysseus and its tests anticipate a week-long mission on the moon’s surface until the sun sets, ending access to solar energy at the landing location. The spacecraft was not constructed to withstand the harshly cold conditions during the two-week lunar night.
The countries that have successfully landed on the moon’s surface are the United States, Russia, China, India, and Japan. However, Japan’s inclusion in this group is marked with an asterisk due to their “SLIM” lander.th
On January 19th, the object fell over upon landing.
The mission was unsuccessful in meeting all of its objectives.
Three moon landers, funded by private sources, were sent into space between 2019 and January of this year. These included one from an Israeli non-profit, one from a Japanese company, and Astrobotic’s Peregrine, which unfortunately did not succeed.
Peregrine and Odysseus received partial funding from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, also known as CLPS. This program aims to promote private sector involvement in developing transportation capabilities for NASA’s use in delivering payloads to the moon.
The agency aims to facilitate the creation of innovative technologies and gather essential data for the future Artemis mission, which plans to land near the south pole of the moon in the coming years.
The agency’s contribution to the Peregrine mission cost approximately $108 million, while the Odysseus instruments and transportation to the moon totaled $129 million.
Intuitive Machines
Susan Lederer, the project scientist for CLPS at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, stated that these are not NASA missions but rather commercial missions. She explained that these companies will be including our instruments in their mission, which will allow us to conduct our investigations by providing us with power, data, and communication capabilities.
“The presence of a commercial industry creates a highly competitive atmosphere, resulting in a greater return on our initial investment. Rather than being limited to one mission every ten years, we now have the potential for up to ten commercial missions to the moon within the same time frame.”
The launch by Intuitive Machines marked the end of a productive day for SpaceX.
At half past five in the evening, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with four Space Development Agency satellites designed to track missiles and two hypersonic threat detection satellites for the Missile Defense Agency.
The pair of MDA satellites are constructed to constantly monitor incredibly fast-moving missiles or potential dangers, transferring the information to other satellites or ground systems for precise targeting. They will operate in the identical orbit as the SDA tracking satellites, aiding decision-makers in evaluating how to handle threats on various tiers.
The SDA deployed a total of 27 satellites for its “proliferated warfighter space architecture,” with the four SDA tracking satellites being the last ones. More satellites will be launched in the coming years to expand the number of tranches, or groups of advanced spacecraft.
The U.S. Space Force program, valued at $4.5 billion, has the goal of launching numerous laser-connected tracking and data relay satellites in various constellations and orbital planes to offer worldwide coverage that is more secure against potential attacks.
After the successful launch of the Space Force flight, engineers at SpaceX’s West Coast facility made an effort to send 22 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, located northwest of Los Angeles. However, due to timing constraints, SpaceX ultimately cancelled the launch at the end of its designated window.
At 10:25 p.m. EST, Russian engineers launched the Progress MS-26/67P cargo ship from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ship is headed to the International Space Station and is expected to arrive in two days.
The Progress spacecraft is carrying a total of 5,500 pounds of cargo, consisting of 3,258 pounds of dry goods, 1,279 pounds of propellant for the space station, and 926 pounds of water. It is scheduled to dock at the Zvezda module of the space station at 1:26 a.m. EST on Saturday.
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Source: cbsnews.com