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Lunar lander Odysseus, still generating power on the moon, will be put to sleep soon
Odysseus, which touched down on the moon last week, has about three hours left before Intuitive Machines puts it “to sleep” in hopes that the lunar lander can be woken back up in a few weeks, company officials said Wednesday.
On Tuesday morning, the company said Odysseus – nicknamed Odie — had about 10-20 hours left, but the lunar lander continued to generate solar power on the moon on Wednesday. In several weeks, the sun will illuminate Odysseus’ solar panel again, Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus said.
“I think what we’re going to do is kind of tuck Odie in for the cold night of the moon and see if we can’t wake him up here when we get the solar noon here in about three weeks,” once the lunar night ends, Altemus said during a press conference.
Hopes for waking Odysseus back up
Without illumination on Odysseus’ solar panel, the lander will lose energy. It’s already degrading in power, Altemus said Wednesday. The plan is to try and ping Odysseus with an antenna and wake it back up in a few weeks.
“This mission was intended as a scout and a pilot mission to go land on the surface, collect the data and then the cold of night was going to take the lander, where it was going to sit there quietly for the rest of time,” Altemus said.
Intuitive Machines
There may be another opportunity in a few weeks to get additional data, Altemus said, adding, “So, no eulogies planned yet.”
However, there’s a chance the team may not be able to wake Odysseus back up, Tim Crain, Intuitive’s chief technology officer, said. The batteries are the main limiter, because they don’t respond well to cold. The company may not be able to receive power from the solar panel in a few weeks. It’s also unclear how the flight computer and radio will manage in the cold.
“We’re in a position where, why not try? With no odds on it, let’s see what happens,” Altemus said.
NASA’s Sue Lederer said she has faith in Odysseus. “He’s a scrappy little dude, so I have confidence in Odie at this point,” she said.
Odysseus survives, sends back data even after tipping over
The lunar lander had a challenging landing on the moon. Odysseus came down faster than expected and tipped over onto its side as it landed.
It skidded and part of the landing gear broke off, Altemus said. Despite the difficult landing, Odysseus has been able to send back pictures and data. Data has come in from all of the payloads on Odysseus — it was equipped with six NASA instruments and another six commercial payloads.
Intuitive Machines via AP
Odysseus has sent back more than 15 megabytes of information, which is more than was expected, Lederer said.
“We went from basically a cocktail straw of data coming back to a boba tea size straw of data coming back,” Lederer said.
Altemus said he views it as a successful mission
“What we’ve done in the process of this mission is we’ve fundamentally changed the economics of landing on the moon,” Altemus said. “We’ve kicked open the door for a robust thriving cislunar economy in the future.”
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Barry Enderwick is eating his way through history, one sandwich at a time. Every day from his home in San Jose, California, Enderwick posts a cooking video from a recipe that time forgot. From the 1905 British book “Salads, Sandwiches and Savouries,” Enderwick prepared the New York Sandwich.
The recipe called for 24 oysters, minced and mixed with mayonnaise, seasoned with lemon juice and pepper, and spread over buttered day-old French bread.
Rescuing recipes from the dustbin of history doesn’t always lead to culinary success. Sampling his New York Sandwich, Enderwick decried it as “a textural wasteland. No, thank you.” Into the trash bin it went!
But Enderwick’s efforts have yielded his own cookbook, a collection of some of the strangest – and sometimes unexpectedly delicious – historical recipes you’ve never heard of.
Harvard Common Press
He even has a traveling stage show: “Sandwiches of History Live.”
From the condiments to the sliced bread, this former Netflix executive has become something of a sandwich celebrity. “You can put just about anything in-between two slices of bread,” he said. “And it’s portable! In general, a sandwich is pretty easy fare. And so, they just have universal appeal.”
Though the sandwich gets its name famously from the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, the earliest sandwich Enderwick has eaten dates from 200 B.C.E. China, a seared beef sandwich called Rou Jia Mo.
He declared it delicious. “Between the onions, and all those spices and the soy sauce … oh my God! Oh man, this is so good!”
While Elvis was famous for his peanut butter and banana concoction, Enderwick says there’s another celebrity who should be more famous for his sandwich: Gene Kelly, who he says had “the greatest man sandwich in the world, which was basically mashed potatoes on bread. And it was delicious.”
Whether it’s a peanut and sardine sandwich (from “Blondie’s Cook Book” from 1947), or the parmesian radish sandwich (from 1909’s “The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book”), Enderwick tries to get a taste of who we were – good or gross – one recipe at a time.
RECIPE: A sophisticated club sandwich
Blogger Barry Enderwick, of Sandwiches of History, offers “Sunday Morning” viewers a 1958 recipe for a club sandwich that, he says, shouldn’t work, but actually does, really well!
MORE: “Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index
Delicious menu suggestions from top chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, restaurateurs, and the editors of Food & Wine magazine.
For more info:
Story produced by Anthony Laudato. Editor: Chad Cardin.