More than 100 Jeff Koons sculptures are still aboard the Nova C (Odysseus) lunar lander, which is likely to soon lose power and communication with flight control engineers.
Nova C landed on the moon’s surface on its side late last week, but according to Intuitive Machines, the company behind the lander, the craft fell on its side.
The February 22 botched landing occurred after its two rangefinder lasers failed to guide the landing because its safety switches were on, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Switches can only be turned off manually. There were other failures and inaccuracies in the calculated trajectory that complicated the landing.
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The tilted landing position caused Odysseus’ solar panels and communications antennas to be misaligned, making communication difficult and limiting power.
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said during a recent briefing Vergethat the only cargo on Odysseus’ side facing down is actually Koons’ “Moon Phases” sculptures, the miniature 125-in. moons, each representing a phase of the Moon and dedicated to great historical figures, such as Mozart, Cleopatra and Leonardo da Vinci. The sculptures are linked to a collection of NFTs available through Pace Verso, the Web3 platform of the titular gallery.
The “Moon Phases” sculptures were originally intended to fly to the moon in July 2022. They finally went aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in Odyssey on February 14.
Despite the difficulties, Odyssey marks the first successful US landing on the moon since 1972 and the first lunar landing of a privately manufactured and operated spacecraft, according to reports. Reuters.
