Intuitive Machines, a Texas-based aerospace firm, has released the first images of the Earth captured by the company's Odysseus Moon lander. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched Odysseus, also known as NOVA-C, as part of the Intuitive Machines 1 Mission (IM-1), on February 15, 2024. The images were released on February 16, and were captured after the lander separated from the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.
The aim of the mission is to place Odysseus at crater Malapert A near the lunar south pole.
Odysseus carries five NASA payloads, and commercial cargo.
NASA selected Intuitive Machines to build a lander as part of the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services Initiative (CLPS), in which a commercial firm receives a contract.
The following are the breathtaking images of the Earth captured by Odysseus.
All about IM-1 mission
Odysseus’s payloads will study interactions between the lunar surface and plumes, which are clouds of gas. They will also perform radio astronomy experiments, and study how the lunar surface interacts with the space weather.
Odysseus will also demonstrate precision landing technologies, and exhibit communication and navigation mode capabilities.
First, Odysseus will be placed into an Earth orbit of size 185 kilometres x 60,000 kilometres. After this, translunar injection will occur. Following this, a manoeuvre will place Odysseus into a 100-kilometre lunar orbit.
Odysseus is expected to land at Malapert A crater on February 22. It will have a mission life of 14 Earth days, in the presence of sunlight.
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Odysseus has a length of four metres, a width of 1.57 metres, and a lift-off mass of 1,908 kilograms. With six standing legs, Odysseus is capable of carrying up to 100 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface.
The lander is equipped with solar panels which will allow it to generate 200 Watts of power on the lunar surface.
The main engine, placed at the bottom of Odysseus, requires a force of 3,100 Newtons to fire up before landing on the Moon. It uses liquid methane as fuel, and liquid oxygen as oxidiser.
The IM-1 mission was the 18th flight of the first stage booster of the Falcon 9 rocket.
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