NASA and Intuitive Machines declare IM-1 lunar lander mission a success
Posted: Sat, Mar 2, 2024, 10:00 AM ET (1500 GMT)
Both NASA and Intuitive Machines have declared the IM-1 lunar lander mission a success. The company said Wednesday that it expected to conclude operations of the lander later in the day as the sun moved out of view of the lander's solar arrays. Despite a hard landing that broke at least one lander leg and caused the spacecraft to tip over to about 30 degrees off the ground, the company said it was able to operate most of the payloads on the lander. That included all five active NASA payloads, the agency said. A student-built payload, intended to eject from the lander and take images of it, did deploy Wednesday but was not able to return any images. The company said it will try again in a few weeks to make contact with the lander to see if its batteries and electronics survived the cold conditions of the two-week lunar night.
Both NASA and Intuitive Machines have declared the IM-1 lunar lander mission a success. The company said Wednesday that it expected to conclude operations of the lander later in the day as the sun moved out of view of the lander's solar arrays. Despite a hard landing that broke at least one lander leg and caused the spacecraft to tip over to about 30 degrees off the ground, the company said it was able to operate most of the payloads on the lander. That included all five active NASA payloads, the agency said. A student-built payload, intended to eject from the lander and take images of it, did deploy Wednesday but was not able to return any images. The company said it will try again in a few weeks to make contact with the lander to see if its batteries and electronics survived the cold conditions of the two-week lunar night.
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