Click Here 178. Saving Odie: A team of space geeks, a scrappy lunar lander and today’s hackable space race
Oct 29, 2024
Tim Crane, co-founder of Intuitive Machines, discusses the thrilling journey of the Odysseus lunar lander as part of NASA's Artemis program. The team faced significant challenges, including a critical failure in Odie’s laser altimeters, prompting innovative solutions to save the mission. Crane shares how coding and cyber skills became essential for navigating unexpected malfunctions. The excitement peaks when a coding team manages to reboot the lander, raising important discussions on cybersecurity vulnerabilities in space exploration.
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Childhood Inspiration
- Tim Crane's passion for space ignited when he witnessed a space shuttle landing.
- This early experience fueled his drive to work with spacecraft.
The Altimeter Problem
- Hours before Odie's moon landing, a critical issue arose with the laser altimeter.
- This device measures the lander's distance from the surface, crucial for a safe landing.
Repurposing Experiments
- Odie carried various experiments, offering a potential solution to the altimeter problem.
- A Doppler LIDAR, designed for navigation testing, became a key to landing Odie.