On February 15, 2024, the Odysseus lunar lander by Intuitive Machines, launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to begin its journey to the moon. The rocket and Odysseus separated about 48 minutes after launch when the rocket ran out of fuel. Then, over seven days, the lander journeyed about 250,000 miles to the moon and began its descent. However, there was a problem with the laser navigation system, which helped the lander to know how fast it was moving in all directions. Luckily, NASA had asked Intuitive Machines to carry a new Doppler LIDAR to the moon for testing. The craft had to take an extra orbit around the moon while engineers wrote software to integrate the Doppler LIDAR system with the lander. They finished the software in time, and once the lander was in position, it descended to the surface. Unfortunately, because of the extra orbit, Odysseus had too much lateral (sideways) velocity, causing it to tip over and lay sideways on the moon. However, the lander is still at full power and is in contact with Earth, so Intuitive Machines says it should still be possible to complete the mission, even with the unexpected orientation.
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