Odysseus Spacecraft by Intuitive Machines, Embarrassing?

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   Credence2posted 17 months ago

   NASA paid Intuitive Machines about $118M to deliver a payload to the lunar surface, the first since the 1970s. I was looking forward to seeing high def photography from the surface not available during the Apollo Era.
   
   Then, I hear that the unit tipped over on its side disrupting a large part of its mission. I am reminded of what happens to my rubbish can in a windstorm and the disappointment and inconvenience associated with it. But, again 118M is a lot of money. And while there is no wind or weather to contend with, I am shocked that so vital a mission fails over something that should have been anticipated. The moon’s terrain is not a paved road. The physicists were aware that the risk of tipping for any object is greatly increased in a reduced gravitational field. When the retros were fired for controlled descent, were there not video feedback giving information about the terrain? I am not a rocket scientist, but was there anyway to build the landing components with a greater degree of stability? Perhaps, this is a crazy idea, spikes in the landing gear that can drill into the soil, maybe? I’ve seen probes on Mars, helicopters designed to operate within the rarefied atmosphere and rovers functioning with greater reliability. Is Odysseus the best this private sector firm has to offer?
   
   This was not an Apollo 13, where disaster occurred from an unanticipated circumstance. This reminds me of the Challenger disaster, where we should have known better This failure of the Odysseus event reminds me of how much more careful we are going to have to be before sending men back to the moon, where there has to be no room for error, especially of this nature.
   
   Just an observation and opinion. any thoughts?

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   1. 84

      GA Andersonposted 17 months agoin reply to this

      I read one explanation that said the probe had unexpected lateral motion, which caused the tip-over. I don't think I've seen any explanation for why it had that motion. It almost has to be human error, but, was it dumb human error or just a new-industry learning curve error? I would guess the latter. *shrug*
      
      I think it's great that another private company is semi-successfully in the game.
      
      GA

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