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After half-century absence, U.S. returns to moon as lunar lander Odysseus touches down:
America has returned to the moon after a 52-year absence. The unmanned Odysseus spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface shortly before 6:30 p.m. EST Thursday.
"We can confirm without a doubt that our equipment is on the surface and we are on the moon. Odysseus has found a new home," said Dr. Tim Crain, mission director of the IM-1, the first American private venture to send a module to the moon.
It's the first time the United States has had a new presence on the lunar surface since NASA's Apollo 11 in July 1969.
The Intuitive Machines Odysseus lunar lander, nicknamed "Odie" or "IM-1," settled on the moon's surface after a day's long trek but immediately began experiencing communication problems, preventing the transmission of data.
The general tone of this story here and elsewhere seems to be that this heralds a new era of a commercial space industry, but until one can show that there is any commercial value to being on the Moon besides directly supporting NASA/ESA/etc., is this a watershed moment, or is this just slightly expanding the potential NASA/ESA/etc. contractor pool? --hubie
Previously: Private US Moon Lander Successfully Launches 24 Hours After Flight Was Delayed
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday February 23 2024, @09:26PM
The "general tone" that commercial interests can exploit situations better and more efficiently than any other kind of organization is getting kind of tired, don't you think? The transcontinental railroads may be the closest match to the current situation and dreams. The railroads were building into territory inhabited only very lightly by natives, with the expectation that by making settlement easier, they would attract settlers who would then need the services of the railroad. It mostly worked. But that's not all that close a match. Settling the western US was far easier than settling the Moon will be. So severe are the difficulties of colonizing the Moon that it may never be done. May never be profitable.
What does that leave? Mining? Do all the smelting and processing on the Moon, and send only the most valuable materials to Earth? Yeah, if we had a space elevator. Without that, the expense of transport is too high to make that worthwhile. Do they suppose they can drive down the transport costs to the point it is worthwhile?