US Nears Attempt at First Moon Landing in Half Century with Private Robot Spacecraft

[Ghoti Ichthus]

US Nears Attempt at First Moon Landing in Half Century with Private Robot Spacecraft​

By Steve Gorman and Joey Roulette
February 22, 20245:13 AM CSTUpdated 2 hours ago

"Feb 22 (Reuters) - A spacecraft built and flown by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines sailed around the moon on Thursday headed for an attempt at the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever entirely by the private sector.
The six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, was due to begin the final descent from lunar orbit with a blast of its main engine about an hour before landing, with touchdown planned for 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) on Thursday at a crater named Malapert A near the moon's south pole."

More

https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/us-nears-attempt-first-moon-landing-half-century-with-private-robot-spacecraft-2024-02-22/

 

[Tall Timbers]

Maybe it would be cost effective to mine the moon for rare earth metals. Maybe we'll end up with a colony of miners there.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Maybe it would be cost effective to mine the moon for rare earth metals. Maybe we'll end up with a colony of miners there.

I wonder how much of the moon would have to be removed and deposited on earth to affect their respective orbits and relation to one another?

 

[Andy C]

Maybe it would be cost effective to mine the moon for rare earth metals. Maybe we'll end up with a colony of miners there.

If we are still around long enough for there to be a colony on the moon, living there would make living in Alaska easy - weather wise. The moon during daylight temps can reach 250F, and hit a low of -208f at night.

 

[Hol]

If we are still around long enough for there to be a colony on the moon, living there would make living in Alaska easy - weather wise. The moon during daylight temps can reach 250F, and hit a low of -208f at night.

Miners are a tough bunch.

 

[Tall Timbers]

If we are still around long enough for there to be a colony on the moon, living there would make living in Alaska easy - weather wise. The moon during daylight temps can reach 250F, and hit a low of -208f at night.

Maybe they could use specially designed robots to do the mining while the human overlords/supervisors/repairmen relax in a climate controlled bubble of some kind...

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Maybe they could use specially designed robots to do the mining while the human overlords/supervisors/repairmen relax in a climate controlled bubble of some kind...

Why send people when an AI, or from-earth controlled robot(s), could be sent to boss the less-special robots? Drones?

 

[Tall Timbers]

Why send people when an AI, or from-earth controlled robot(s), could be sent to boss the less-special robots? Drones?

Why, I can think of a lot of people I'd like to see sent to the moon...

 

[Eric Nicholas]

Why, I can think of a lot of people I'd like to see sent to the moon...

Hear hear!

 

[Spartan Sprinter]

Why, I can think of a lot of people I'd like to see sent to the moon...

i don't think i've seen this side of you TT

 

[Tall Timbers]

i don't think i've seen this side of you TT

How long have you had me on "ignore"?

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Success!!!



First U.S. moon landing since 1972 as private spacecraft touches down on lunar surface
By William Harwood
Updated on: February 22, 2024 / 9:58 PM EST / CBS News

"Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander touched down on the moon Thursday after a historic, nail-biting descent following a last-minute navigation sensor malfunction, becoming the first U.S.-built spacecraft to stick a moon landing in more than 50 years and the first ever by a private company.

After delaying the final descent by one orbit to press an experimental NASA navigation sensor into service — and to test hurriedly-written software patches to route its data to the lander's flight computer — Odysseus settled to a touchdown at 6:23 p.m. EST near a crater known as Malapert A some 186 miles from the south pole of the moon."

More

First U.S. moon landing since 1972 as private spacecraft touches down on lunar surface

Intuitive Machines's Odysseus lunar lander became the first privately-built spacecraft to safely complete a moon landing.

www.cbsnews.com

JESUS!!!