After seven days on the moon, Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander finally lost power today. It was the first American spacecraft to reach the moon’s surface since 1972, and it was also the first spacecraft that was privately built. But the lander, which was named Odysseus, will be known for something else: the way it moved.
Using a mix of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid methane in that propulsion system could open up new space possibilities and make future missions by other commercial providers less risky.
Before the IM-1 mission from Intuitive Machines, this mix of propellants had never been used on a lander. You may have heard of them because they are used in powerful rocket engines like SpaceX’s Raptor, Blue Origin’s BE-4, and Relativity Space’s Aeon R.
But landers and most spaceships today use “space storable” or hypergolic propellants, which are very dangerous but can be stored passively. Examples are hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. On the other hand, “cryogens” are safer, more efficient, and have more energy, but they need to be cooled down to very, very low temperatures.
This comes with its own set of problems. The fuels can only be kept cold for a very short time before takeoff because they need to be kept so cold. Intuitive Machines and SpaceX began fueling the Nova-C class lander’s VR900 engine (which IM built) three hours before launch, while the rocket was still on the launch pad and the ship was already inside the payload fairing. This was done to get around the problem. That’s not at all like them.
Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s VP of build and flight reliability, told reporters on February 13 that the lander’s fueling had to be done in a way that had never been done before because it was so unusual. That meant making changes to the launch pad, the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, and the payload cover so that it could be accessed while it was already attached to the vehicle.
Before launch, the two companies did two “wet dress rehearsals.” Problems with loading the propellant meant that the first launch attempt had to be pushed back one day, to February 15. After the launch went well, Intuitive Machines had a short problem chilling the line that feeds liquid oxygen, which took longer than planned. Once the propellant was cool enough, the next day, flight controllers were able to start the engine for the first time in space.
The company was able to go directly to the moon because they were using very efficient liquid oxygen and liquid methane. The spaceship only had to go through the Van Allen belt, an area around the Earth with a lot of radiation. This meant that it was less likely to be hit by high-energy particles that could damage it.
Two VR900 engines will also be used on the much bigger “Nova-D” spaceship from Intuitive Machines to send 500 to 750 kg of cargo to the moon. Nova-C launcher can carry up to 100 kilograms of stuff.
In space, the Nova-C and Nova-D landers won’t be the only things that use cold propellants. In a January interview, CEO Tom Mueller said that Impulse Space’s high-energy kick stage, Helios, will use cryogens to send cargo straight to geostationary orbit.
“Big kick stages with hypergols have been talked about before, and I just think, you’re talking about tons of propellant, the price, and the cost of safety are just crazy,” he said. “Hence it seems obvious to use very cheap and very powerful fuels such as liquid oxygen and liquid methane.”
Odysseus brought back to Earth six NASA science and study payloads. One of them directly used the cryogenic propulsion system. Radio Frequency Mass Gauge from the Glenn Research Center of the agency uses radio waves and antennas to find out how much fuel is in the engine’s tanks. This technology could be very useful for checking the fuel levels of spacecraft on long-term trips, since “slosh” can make it hard to measure liquids in zero-gravity.
Also Read: After the Lander Flips Over, Intuitive Machines’ Journey to the Moon Will Have to End Early
NASA cares a lot about this issue because its Artemis missions to send people back to the moon’s surface rely on spacecraft that use cryogenic propellants, mostly Blue Origins’ Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System. For these missions, a lot of cryogenic fluids will need to be moved from depots in orbit to the ship. These fluids will need to be in orbit for a lot longer than Odysseus was on his way to the moon, but the IM-1 mission still opens the door for cryogenic use in space.
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