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Ephemeris: 02/22/2024 – IM-1, the Odysseus spacecraft lunar landing is today

February 22, 2024 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, February 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 6:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:32 tomorrow morning.

Today is the day the Intuitive Machines’ moon lander called Odysseus is slated to land on the Moon. It was launched a week ago on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. And if successful it will be the first soft landing on the Moon by the United States since Apollo 17 back in 1972. I’m recording this last Sunday, so I don’t know the condition of the spacecraft and a lot can happen between launch and landing on the moon. The last spacecraft sent from the United States, last month, by the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket crashed back on Earth. The spacecraft is supposed to land about 190 miles from the Moon’s South Pole, which is considerably closer to the South Pole than the Indian spacecraft landed last year.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

An artist rendition of the Intuitive Machines' IM-1 Odysseus Lander on the Moon
An artist rendition of the Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Odysseus Lander on the Moon. I hope it makes it, that last kilometer is a killer. Credit Columbia Sportswear.
Landing sequence of the Odysseus Lander
The landing sequence of the Odysseus Lander. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Credit: Intuitive Machines.
South Pole area of the Moon color coded by height
A rendering of the South Pole area of the Moon color coded by height. The landing target area is the crater Malapert A, shown at the bottom of the image. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Credit: NASA.
The South Pole area of the Moon by Virtual Moon Atlas
This image from the Virtual Moon Atlas of the South Pole of the Moon shows the crater Malapert A at the bottom is with a red dot. The Crater Malapert itself is a bit closer to the pole. The crater Shackleton is at the South Pole itself. Some of these names may be familiar. Shackleton, Amundsen and Scott and others were pioneering explorers of the Antarctica and the South Pole of the Earth. Malapert is named after Charles Malapert, 17th century Belgian mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer (1581-1630).
Categories: Artemis Program, Ephemeris Program, NASA, Space exploration, The Moon Tags: , , , ,