Two toppled moon landers go dormant for a lunar night they may not survive

Lunar night has come around again, presenting yet another test for the two landers that recently arrived on the moon’s surface. Both Japan’s SLIM spacecraft and Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus have gone to sleep for the two-week-long stretch of darkness, the two teams confirmed at the end of this week. There’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to resume operations afterward, but they’ll try to reestablish contact when the time comes.

While the solar powered landers weren’t built to withstand the frigid lunar night, SLIM — which has been on the moon since January 19 — has already beaten the odds before to pull through last month. It’ll be the first lunar night for Odysseus, which landed on February 22. 

The missions, though successful in that the spacecraft survived their respective descents to the surface, stand as further examples of how challenging it is to land on the moon; both landers fell over, leaving them stuck in non-ideal positions. SLIM face-planted, and Odysseus broke a leg and tipped onto its side.

SLIM has been able to capture a few images from the surface, and the team shared another look at the Shioli crater from its perspective on Thursday before it powered down. Odysseus has sent home some pictures too from its wide-angle camera, including one last transmission before lunar night that shows a portion of the lander and the surface of the moon, with a tiny crescent Earth in the distance. But the world has eagerly been awaiting third-person POV pictures from the EagleCam made by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which hitched a ride with Odysseus. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem likely to happen at this point.

The camera wasn’t deployed as originally planned before the moment of touchdown, and while Intuitive Machines said this week that the team was able to power it up and eject it after Odysseus reached the surface, communications with the camera so far aren’t working. “The Embry‑Riddle team is working on that and wrestling with that to see if there’s anything they can do,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said on Wednesday. The onset of lunar night isn’t going to help those odds.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/two-toppled-moon-landers-go-dormant-for-a-lunar-night-they-may-not-survive-182451657.html?src=rss

Two toppled moon landers go dormant for a lunar night they may not survive

Lunar night has come around again, presenting yet another test for the two landers that recently arrived on the moon’s surface. Both Japan’s SLIM spacecraft and Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus have gone to sleep for the two-week-long stretch of darkness, the two teams confirmed at the end of this week. There’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to resume operations afterward, but they’ll try to reestablish contact when the time comes.

While the solar powered landers weren’t built to withstand the frigid lunar night, SLIM — which has been on the moon since January 19 — has already beaten the odds before to pull through last month. It’ll be the first lunar night for Odysseus, which landed on February 22. 

The missions, though successful in that the spacecraft survived their respective descents to the surface, stand as further examples of how challenging it is to land on the moon; both landers fell over, leaving them stuck in non-ideal positions. SLIM face-planted, and Odysseus broke a leg and tipped onto its side.

SLIM has been able to capture a few images from the surface, and the team shared another look at the Shioli crater from its perspective on Thursday before it powered down. Odysseus has sent home some pictures too from its wide-angle camera, including one last transmission before lunar night that shows a portion of the lander and the surface of the moon, with a tiny crescent Earth in the distance. But the world has eagerly been awaiting third-person POV pictures from the EagleCam made by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which hitched a ride with Odysseus. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem likely to happen at this point.

The camera wasn’t deployed as originally planned before the moment of touchdown, and while Intuitive Machines said this week that the team was able to power it up and eject it after Odysseus reached the surface, communications with the camera so far aren’t working. “The Embry‑Riddle team is working on that and wrestling with that to see if there’s anything they can do,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said on Wednesday. The onset of lunar night isn’t going to help those odds.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/two-toppled-moon-landers-go-dormant-for-a-lunar-night-they-may-not-survive-182451657.html?src=rss

Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander tipped over at touchdown, but it’s still kicking

It turns out Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft didn’t land upright after all. In a press conference with NASA Friday evening, the company revealed the lander is laying on its side after coming in a little faster than expected, likely catching its foot on the surface at the moment of landing. Fortunately, Odysseus is positioned in such a way that its solar panels are still getting enough light from the sun to keep it charged, and the team has been able to communicate with it. Pictures from the surface should be coming soon.

While the initial assessment was that Odysseus had landed properly, further analysis indicated otherwise. Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus said “stale telemetry” was to blame for the earlier reading. 

A model of the spacecraft showing it positioned on its side

All payloads except the one static art installation, though — Jeff Koons’ Moon Phases sculptures — are on the upturned side. The lander and its NASA science payloads have been collecting data from the journey, descent and landing, which the team will use to try and get a better understanding of what happened. But, all things considered, it seems to be doing well.

The team plans to eject the EagleCam, developed by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, so it can take a picture of the lander and its surroundings perhaps as soon as this weekend. It was supposed to be ejected during descent to capture the moment of landing, but issues on touchdown day prevented it from being released. 

A portion of the Odysseus lander can be seen with the lunar surface in the background from after it reached lunar orbit
Intuitive Machines
The Bel’kovich K crater on the Moon’s northern equatorial highlands as seen by Odysseus from orbit
Intuitive Machines

Once Odysseus was in lunar orbit and hours away from its landing attempt, the team discovered its laser range finders, which are key to its precision navigation, were not working — due entirely to human error. According to Altemus, someone forgot to flip a safety switch that would allow them to turn on, so they couldn’t. That realization was “like a punch in the stomach,” Altemus said, and they thought they could lose the mission. 

The team was thankfully able to make a last-second adjustment cooked up on the fly by Intuitive Machines CTO and co-founder Tim Crain, who suggested they use one of the on-board NASA payloads instead to guide the descent, the Navigation Doppler LIDAR (NDL). In the end, Odysseus made it there alright. Its mission is expected to last a little over a week, until lunar night falls.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-odysseus-lander-tipped-over-at-touchdown-but-its-still-kicking-174541034.html?src=rss

The Odysseus has become the first US spacecraft to land on the moon in 50 years

The Odysseus spacecraft made by Houston-based Intuitive Machines has successfully landed on the surface of the moon. It marks the first time a spacecraft from a private company has landed on the lunar surface, and it’s the first US-made craft to reach the moon since the Apollo missions.

Odysseus was carrying NASA instruments, which the space agency said would be used to help prepare for future crewed missions to the moon under the Artemis program. NASA confirmed the landing happened at 6:23 PM ET on February 22. The lander launched from Earth on February 15, with the help of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

According to The New York Times, there were some “technical issues with the flight” that delayed the landing for a couple of hours. Intuitive Machines CTO Tim Crain told the paper that “Odysseus is definitely on the moon and operating but it remains to be seen whether the mission can achieve its objectives.” Odysseus has a limited window of about a week to send data back down to Earth before darkness sets in and makes the solar-powered craft inoperable.

Intuitive Machines wasn’t the first private company to attempt a landing. Astrobotic made an attempt last month with its Peregrine lander, but was unsuccessful. Intuitive Machines is planning to launch two other lunar landers this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-odysseus-spacecraft-has-become-the-first-us-spacecraft-to-land-on-the-moon-in-50-years-010041179.html?src=rss

Scientists develop ‘nanosphere’ paint that could reduce planes’ carbon dioxide emissions

Paint might not seem like the heaviest component to consider when building a large device like an airplane, but its mass can add up. Now, a new and lightweight substance could provide a welcome substitute: Two material scientists from Kobe University, Fujii Minoru and Sugimoto Hiroshi, have discovered nanospheres that are near-invisible silicone crystals. The particles can reflect light thanks to very large and efficient scattering, research published in the journal of ACS Applied Nano Matter details. The result could mean covering a surface in vibrant color while only adding 10 percent of the weight that paint would bring, Fast Company reports.

This reduction could have a tremendous impact on factors such as cost and carbon dioxide produced. Simply put, a plane must use more fuel as its weight goes up, thus directly increasing the amount of money airlines spend (and then charge customers), along with the quantity of fuel burned as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Minoru and Hiroshi's discovery focuses on structural rather than pigment color to exhibit and maintain hues. The former absorbs wavelengths while reflecting the ones the human eye picks up. Structural colors, on the other hand, are "intense and bright colors result from the interaction of light with periodic micro- and nanostructures that cause color by interference, coherent scattering, or diffraction," according to the Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology.

The team's work follows previous research in which they were able to build nanocrystals to a specific size. Then came the creation of colloquial suspension, which keeps the crystalline silicon nanoparticles mixed with supporting liquid rather than separating. At present, the color of the nanosphere-based ink varies as the team changes the nanocrystals' sizes. Larger particles create warm hues like red, while smaller particles display cooler tones like blue. These shades should remain identical no matter the angle at which a person sees them.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-develop-nanosphere-paint-that-could-reduce-planes-carbon-dioxide-emissions-134733040.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Want to live in NASA’s Mars simulation for a year?

NASA wants volunteers for its second year-long simulated Mars mission, the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA 2). For the mission’s duration, starting spring 2025, the four selected crew members will live in a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat in Houston. It’s paid, but we don’t know how much. At least living costs will be nil.

The Mars Dune Alpha habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center simulates life for future explorers on the red planet, where the environment is harsh and resources limited.

Applicants must be US citizens aged 30 to 55, speak English proficiently and have a master’s degree in a STEM field, plus at least two years of professional experience, a minimum of one thousand hours piloting an aircraft. Or two years of work toward a STEM doctoral program.

I barely qualify for two of those requirements — good luck to the rest of you.

— Mat Smith

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The EU is reportedly hitting Apple with a $539 million fine in antitrust probe

It’s been investigating Apple’s App Store rules since a 2019 complaint from Spotify.

Apple may be facing a fine of roughly $539 million (€500 million) from the EU and a ban on its alleged anti-competitive App Store practices for music streaming services, according to The Financial Times. The publication cites five unnamed sources and says the European Commission will announce its ruling early next month.

The investigation was prompted by a 2019 antitrust complaint filed by Spotify and focuses on App Store rules that, at the time, prevented developers from directing customers to alternative subscriptions outside the app, which could be notably cheaper as they didn’t have to include Apple’s 30 percent fee.

Continue reading.

Reddit reportedly signed a multi-million content licensing deal with an AI company

The company will use Reddit content to train its AI models.

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Anadolu via Getty Images

Your dank memes, confessional posts and excessively strong feelings on Baldur’s Gate 3 couplings will soon train an artificial intelligence company’s models, according to Bloomberg. The website reportedly signed a deal “worth about $60 million on an annual basis” earlier this year.

When Reddit started charging companies for API access in April 2023, it said pricing would split in tiers so even smaller clientele could afford to pay. Companies need that API access to train their chatbots on posts and comments. This is likely the top tier of all that.

Continue reading.

Intuitive Machines’ moon lander sent home its first images

The landing attempt is scheduled for February 22.

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Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines’ own attempt at the first-ever commercial Moon landing is off to a good start. After launching without a hitch on Thursday, it snapped a few incredible images of Earth. The team posted a series of updates on X at the end of the week, confirming the lander has passed some key milestones, including engine firing, ahead of its touchdown.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-want-to-live-in-nasas-mars-simulation-for-a-year-121543499.html?src=rss

A satellite designed to inspect space junk just made it to orbit

Astroscale’s ADRAS-J spacecraft, a demonstration satellite that could inform future space junk cleanup efforts, is now in orbit after a successful launch from New Zealand on Sunday. The satellite was sent to space atop an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab. Its mission, which was selected by Japan’s space agency (JAXA) for Phase I of the Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program, will see ADRAS-J rendezvous with an old Japanese rocket upper stage that’s been in orbit since 2009.

The accumulation of waste in Earth’s orbit from decades of spaceflight is an issue of growing concern, and space agencies around the world are increasingly working to address it, in many cases tapping private companies to develop potential solutions. One of the most effective ways to deal with space junk could be to deorbit it, or move it to a lower altitude so it can burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. ADRAS-J will be the first to target a piece of existing large debris and attempt to safely approach and characterize it, relying on ground-based data to hone in on its position.

Over the next few months, it’ll make its way to the target and eventually try to get close enough to take images and assess its condition to determine if it can be removed. “ADRAS-J is officially on duty and ready to rendezvous with some space debris!” the company tweeted. “Let the new era of space sustainability begin!”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-satellite-designed-to-inspect-space-junk-just-made-it-to-orbit-192236821.html?src=rss

Intuitive Machines’ moon lander sent home its first images and they’re breathtaking

Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is well on its way to the moon after launching without a hitch on Thursday, but it managed to snap a few incredible images of Earth while it was still close to home. The company shared the first batch of images from the IM-1 mission on X today after confirming in an earlier post that the spacecraft is “in excellent health.” Along with a view of Earth and some partial selfies of the Nova-C lander, nicknamed Odysseus, you can even see the SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage falling away in the distance after separation.

Odysseus is on track to make its moon landing attempt on February 22, and so far appears to be performing well. The team posted a series of updates on X at the end of the week confirming the lander has passed some key milestones ahead of its touchdown, including engine firing. This marked “the first-ever in-space ignition of a liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine,” according to Intuitive Machines.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-moon-lander-sent-home-its-first-images-and-theyre-breathtaking-194208799.html?src=rss

NASA is looking for volunteers to live in its Mars simulation for a year

If extreme challenges are your cup of tea, NASA has the perfect opportunity for you. The space agency put out a call on Friday for volunteers to participate in its second yearlong simulated Mars mission, the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA 2). For the duration of the mission, which will start in spring 2025, the four selected crew members will be housed in a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat in Houston. NASA is accepting applications on the CHAPEA website from now through April 2. It’s a paid gig, but NASA hasn’t publicly said how much participants will be compensated.

The Mars Dune Alpha habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center is designed to simulate what life might be like for future explorers on the red planet, where the environment is harsh and resources will be limited. There’s a crew currently living and working there as part of the first CHAPEA mission, which is now more than halfway through its 378-day assignment. During their stay, volunteers will perform habitat maintenance and grow crops, among other tasks. The habitat also has a 1,200-square-foot sandbox attached to it for simulated spacewalks.

To be considered, applicants must be a US citizen aged 30-55, speak English proficiently and have a master’s degree in a STEM field, plus at least two years of professional experience, a minimum of one thousand hours piloting an aircraft or two years of work toward a STEM doctoral program. Certain types of professional experience may allow applicants without a master’s to qualify too. CHAPEA 2 is the second of three mission NASA has planned for the program, the first of which began on June 25, 2023. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-is-looking-for-volunteers-to-live-in-its-mars-simulation-for-a-year-172926396.html?src=rss

Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander begins its multi-day journey to the moon

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus has started making its way to the moon and could make history as the first privately built lander to touch down on the lunar surface. The lander was ferried to space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket using a booster that already had 17 flights under its belt before this one and could even fly again in the future, seeing as it had safely returned to Earth on the company's Landing Zone 1. Both SpaceX and Intuitive Machines have confirmed that Odysseus has successfully been deployed and has started its multi-day journey to the moon. 

To be exact, Intuitive Machines has set its sights on the Malapert A crater near the moon's south pole as Odysseus' landing site. The spacecraft can operate for around 14 Earth days when powered by sunlight, but the company is hoping for touchdown to take place by February 22. Odysseus, the first of the Nova-C type landers Intuitive Machines is planning to launch this year, is carrying five NASA payloads in addition to commercial cargo. 

The mission's objectives include demonstrating precision landing and testing certain communication and navigation node capabilities. It will also observe how rocket plumes and space weather interact with the lunar surface. IM-1 was one of the missions NASA had chosen to take its scientific instruments to the moon over the next few years as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The first of the CLPS missions to take off was Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission 1, which unfortunately experienced an anomaly that prevented the lander from pointing its solar panels at the sun and caused it to leak propellant. Peregrine never made it to the moon and ended its journey by burning up in the Earth's atmosphere upon reentry. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-begins-its-multi-day-journey-to-the-moon-113535550.html?src=rss