How Nasa tech saved Odysseus Moon mission from last-gasp failure

The historic US Moon landing on Friday morning came perilously close to failure when the Odysseus spacecraft’s navigation systems stopped working about two hours before the expected touchdown.

The unmanned lander’s rangefinders, navigation lasers and camera are crucial to the landing process, enabling the craft to detect exactly where it is and avoid hazards.

But after they failed, Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based company that built the lander, switched to Nasa technology in a bid to save the mission.

“Today, flight controllers chose to exercise an additional orbit before starting the IM-1 mission landing sequence,” said an announcer during a livestream of the mission.

“This decision brought us to now, projecting a landing time of 17.24 CT [3.24am UAE time]. Intuitive Machines made the decision to reassign the primary navigation sensors from Odysseus’s laser range finding system to use the sensors on Nasa’s Navigation Doppler LIDAR.”

Nasa paid Intuitive Machines about $118 million to carry six payloads to the lunar surface, including the LIDAR navigation system, as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme.

The project is meant to support lunar operating companies by creating easier access to the Moon.

The LIDAR system was not intended for use on privately owned spacecraft. However, it turned out to be crucial in rescuing the mission.

Flight controllers used two LIDAR lasers to navigate during Odysseus’s 11-minute descent to the lunar surface.

But after the landing, mission control was only able to secure a weak signal from the craft, making it unclear what condition Odysseus was in.

It was not until three hours after the landing that Intuitive Machines confirmed the craft was sending data.

“After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data,” the company said.

“Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.”

Intuitive Machines is the first private company to successfully land a craft on the Moon.

Last month, Pittsburghbased Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission, also carrying Nasa cargo, failed when a fuel leak prevented the craft from landing. Odysseus is also the first US-made craft to land on the Moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson congratulated Intuitive Machines on the milestone.

“Today, for the first time in more than half a century, the US has returned to the Moon,” he said.

“Congratulations to everyone involved in this great and daring quest at Intuitive Machines, SpaceX and right here at Nasa.

“What a triumph. Odysseus has taken the Moon.”