OT: USA lands on Moon for first time in >50 years
Space, bitches...
Today, the USA landed(*) on the Moon for the first time since early 1970s. A private U.S. company, Intuitive Machines, landed their six-legged vehicle Odysseus about 300 mi. from the South Pole of the Moon. It was mostly but not entirely funded by NASA, but is considered a fully private vehicle. NASA paid for 8 of the 12 payloads, but other payloads included some artist's figurines plus Columbia (the sportswear company) sent up special insulator material for "testing."
As I type this, "landed" need to be put in quotes. The vehicle is on the surface, and it sending a signal that is weaker than expected. So it's not known what state the vehicle is in. A couple weeks ago, the Japanese landed on their nose (seriously, if you didn't see the pics, go google them), so, who knows. But the company is taking credit for a landing on the Moon.
C'mon, other than Intuitive Machines got their launch ride on a Falcon 9, this doesn't involve you-know-who, so, it's all good.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:29 PM ^
Obligatory
February 23rd, 2024 at 9:15 AM ^
Classic! Never ceases to make me laugh when I see it. Thank you, KO!
February 22nd, 2024 at 6:59 PM ^
What else is there to say but:
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:03 PM ^
I know this happened because I have a friend who works at the sound stage in Burbank, CA where they filmed the landing.
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:17 PM ^
Tupac and Elvis Presley work as janitors there just to keep a low profile.
February 23rd, 2024 at 8:47 AM ^
And Bigfoot is the Facilities Manager.
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:11 PM ^
Can confirm --- I work in Burbank and it was VERY busy on the lots today.
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:17 PM ^
Beautiful downtown Burbank?
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:11 PM ^
Can confirm --- I work in Burbank and it was VERY busy on the lots today.
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:18 PM ^
So the USA didn’t land on the moon; a business did?
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:44 PM ^
It's part of a NASA initiative to make spaceflight and even the future Artemis missions less costly to the taxpayer. NASA paid for the mission to deliver instruments to the moon and for the Livestream, I think it's definitely cool to say this is America doing it. Take the win
February 23rd, 2024 at 2:18 AM ^
You could easily say the same thing about the Apollo program. It was capsules and landers that were built by aerospace corporations flying atop rockets that were also built by corporations. NASA provided the specifications and slapped their logo on the finished product, but space travel and exploration has always been a public/private partnership.
February 23rd, 2024 at 12:48 PM ^
Not quite. This was NOT a NASA mission. Apollo program was.
February 23rd, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^
NASA bankrolled the whole thing and set the mission parameters. It's a distinction without a difference.
February 27th, 2024 at 5:16 PM ^
If you want to die on that hill...
February 23rd, 2024 at 12:18 PM ^
I've been following some of these recent attempts by various countries to land a craft on the moon. Many of them have been unsuccessful. My overriding thought is that not only did a bunch of brush-cut, short-sleeve-wearing, slide rule dorks put multiple modules on the moon 50 FREAKING YEARS AGO, but they did it with men inside, and the men got out and walked around up there!
February 23rd, 2024 at 3:53 PM ^
They also spent about 1000% more money per mission. Not to in any way discount the truly remarkable accomplishments of the Apollo program, but current expenditures on space exploration are a pittance by comparison. They are achieving admirable success on shoestring budgets.
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:33 PM ^
#fake news
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:36 PM ^
Hopefully they don't lose 100% of perfectly legit footage this time!
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:36 PM ^
Lmao space isn’t real bro
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:56 PM ^
The moon is just the back of the sun.
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:03 PM ^
I haven't seen a Stanley Kubrick movie in awhile.
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:03 PM ^
Is "you-know-who" Voldemort?
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:13 PM ^
Close enough.
February 23rd, 2024 at 4:59 AM ^
I'm not sure that's a completely fair analogy. Voldemort actually cast the evil spells that resulted in all the terrible things on his resume. He didn't buy the dark magic cast by other wizards and then stick his name on it.
Now, as far as charm and personality goes, the comparison is a lot closer.
February 22nd, 2024 at 8:50 PM ^
And three years later Alabama had their 1st black football player.
February 22nd, 2024 at 9:15 PM ^
Surprised highly intelligent people here still believe this nonsense
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:33 PM ^
I work at NASA and I think you should expand on why you think this is nonsense
February 23rd, 2024 at 8:52 AM ^
This post is underrated.
February 23rd, 2024 at 9:49 PM ^
Username checks out.
February 22nd, 2024 at 9:15 PM ^
I’m on the moon right now?
February 23rd, 2024 at 8:49 AM ^
Yes you are. Because Earth is merely a moon of the sun.
February 22nd, 2024 at 9:16 PM ^
Surprised this wasn't posted earlier. Michigan has a fairly decent aerospace engineering department. I always thought they were the weirdos in the classrooms next door, but that's just me.
Here's a nice link for details:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/science-environment-68349490?src_origin=BBCS_BBC
But for something much more realistic, anyone else watching the latest Dune sequence?
February 22nd, 2024 at 9:45 PM ^
MAYBE THE OP IS AN ALUM OF THE AERO PROGRAM?????
February 24th, 2024 at 12:02 PM ^
Oops! Apologies!
I meant "weirdos" in the most complimentary manner possible. East and West Engineering were "large tents" back in my day!
February 22nd, 2024 at 9:59 PM ^
We're in a race with China to find water near the poles. Need the water to generate fuel for the leg to Mars.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:20 PM ^
Meh. Germans did it first.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:49 PM ^
nobody home on D. Please put a defender near the basket.
we are playing the soviets in basketball there right now.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:20 PM ^
Thank you for calling Koonses “some artist’s figurines.” I’m imaging a lander being knocked off course by the force of dozens of balloon dogs exploding in the vacuum of space.
February 23rd, 2024 at 3:15 AM ^
“Landed” needs big-time air quotes.
February 23rd, 2024 at 7:34 AM ^
Whitey's on the moon again
February 23rd, 2024 at 9:25 AM ^
The thing that shocks me is that we hadn't done it in the past 50 years. Like, was the thought that we already had a bunch of manned landings, so it wasn't necessary to send any more probes/landers/whatever and instead focus on other targets? With the number of missions we've sent elsewhere in that time, I would have assumed at least one went to the moon...
February 23rd, 2024 at 7:27 PM ^
Landed and tipped on its side. Maybe a tall thin lander isn’t the best of ideas …
February 24th, 2024 at 10:54 AM ^
I mean, cool—but does anyone remember that India did this just last year?
February 24th, 2024 at 11:54 AM ^
My take is after the first Indian attempt, and the Japanese “landing”, this is not so easy, especially without on scene pilots, so any landing is an event.