Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Odysseus Lunar Lander Shuts Down After Week-Long Mission

The Odysseus lunar lander has been shut down by its operators after successfully transmitting data for the past week. The lander, developed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines and launched by a SpaceX rocket, was part of the first private mission to the moon, as opposed to government-sponsored missions.

The mission did face a challenge when the lander tipped over shortly after reaching the lunar surface, a result of a harder-than-expected landing that broke two of its legs, but the lander continued to communicate with the earth-based team.

Intuitive Machines hopes that the lander will be able to be brought back online once solar power becomes available to its solar panels again.

 

Monday, April 12, 2021

Celebrating 60 Years of Human Spaceflight

 

April 12, 1961 - April 12, 2021
60 Years of Humans in Space


Yuri Gagarin, first person in space, (1934-1968)

Sunday, May 31, 2020

America Returns to Space


Amid the coronavirus pandemic and the unrest related to the death of George Floyd, the US has something to celebrate. For the first time since 2011, a US spacecraft has carried Americans into space, and for the first time a private corporation, SpaceX, was responsible for the development of a manned spacecraft.

The spacecraft, a Crew Dragon, lifted off on Friday. The first attempt to launch was canceled on May 27 because of bad weather related to Tropical Storm Bertha. While thunderstorms were in some neighboring areas to the launch site on Friday, they were not close enough to cause the launch to be scrubbed.