![]() The EagleCam CubeSat and its dispenser at deployment | |
Mission type | Technology demonstration |
---|---|
Operator | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Intuitive Machines |
Website | https://erau.edu/eaglecam |
Mission duration | Launch to Landing: 13 days On surface: 30 minutes (lifespan) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | EagleCam |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Bus | 1.5U CubeSat |
Manufacturer | ERAU Space Technologies Laboratory |
Dimensions | 100 mm x 100 mm x 150 mm [1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | February 15, 2024, 06:05:37UTC |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 F9-299 |
Launch site | LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
Deployed from | Nova-C Odysseus lander |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Decommissioned |
Declared | March 31, 2024 |
Lunar lander | |
Landing date | February 28, 2024 |
Landing site | 4 m (13 ft) away from Odysseus lander, near Malapert A crater |
EagleCam was a deployable CubeSat camera system designed to capture the lunar landing of the Nova-C Odysseus lander on the Moon. Designed and manufactured by staff and students working in the Space Technologies Laboratory at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, it was intended to deploy from Odysseus and take the first photographs of a spacecraft landing on the moon from a third-person perspective. It also planned to test an electrodynamic dust shield system in space for the first time and utilize a Wi-Fi connection to transmit data for the first time on the lunar surface.
Design and objectives
EagleCam's primary payload was its camera system, consisting of three fisheye-lens[2]: 2 cameras which would take a total of nine images per second over six seconds as it was ejected from Odysseus shortly before landing. A fourth[3] camera was included to test another one of EagleCam's payloads, an electrodynamic dust shield (EDS), created by the Swamp Works facility at Kennedy Space Center.[4] The CubeSat was powered from a solar-powered battery with a lifetime of 30 minutes.[5]
Had EagleCam been successful, photographs and data taken during the lunar landing of the Odysseus lander may have enabled a better understanding of the dynamics of lunar landings on the lunar regolith and rock surfaces in the vicinity of the Moon's south pole. EagleCam would've assisted in the objectives of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, such as gaining a better understanding of the local lunar surface features to assist with preparations for future manned and unmanned missions to the Moon's south pole, through NASA's Artemis program.[6][7] However, while photos of Odysseus were never taken by EagleCam, it still recorded and transmitted other types of data to Intuitive Machines and the Space Technologies Lab via the IM-1 lander.[8] Through EagleCam, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University became the world's first university to have a payload on the moon's surface solely developed by faculty and students.[4][6][a]
A prototype of the EagleCam CubeSat flew onboard the Blue Origin NS-24 return-to-flight mission on December 19, 2023.[13]
Mission summary
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/EagleCam-ConOps-lowres.jpg/220px-EagleCam-ConOps-lowres.jpg)
The CubeSat was piggybacked with the lander and launched on a Falcon 9 rocket to the Moon via a direct-intercept trajectory.[7] This lunar landing took place on February 22, 2024. Just before landing, at approximately 30 m (98 ft) above the lunar surface, Odysseus was to eject this CubeSat. Once ejected, EagleCam was supposed to semi-hard land on the lunar surface somewhere near the lander at 10 m/s (33 ft/s). As it descended to the surface EagleCam was planned to capture the first third-person images of a lunar landing.[14] However, due to complications arising from a software patch which reconfigured the lander's sensors used during the final descent phase to the moon's surface, EagleCam was powered off and remained attached to Odysseus through landing.[15][3] It was later ejected on February 28 but was a partial failure as it returned all types of data, except post IM-1 landing images that were the main aim of its mission.[16][8] The EagleCam utilized a Wi-Fi connection with the Odysseus lander to relay its images back to Earth.[6]
In March 2024, the EagleCam team was recognized by U.S. Senator Rick Scott in the Congressional Record of the United States Senate for their achievements.[17]
Notes
- ^ Ranger 4, a lunar impactor launched in 1962, was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has been managed by and included faculty and students from Caltech since the early 20th century. Many lunar missions since the space race have been developed or had onboard experiments under the leadership of government agencies and academic institutions (see List of artificial objects on the Moon). More recently, the LEV-2 rover launched aboard JAXA's SLIM mission which landed on January 19, 2024, was jointly developed by JAXA, Japanese companies Tomy and Sony, and Doshisha University.[9] Tiger Eye 1, a radiation experiment designed by LSU, was also manifested for the IM-1 mission as of November 2021.[10] However, it was pushed back to launch aboard the next Intuitive Machines lunar mission IM-2 by December 2022.[11] Had Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One been successful, two of its payloads, Iris and MoonArk, both developed by students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, would've been the first university-developed robotic rover and museum to land on the moon's surface respectively. Their planned landing date was February 23, 2024, one day after IM-1 and EagleCam's planned landing and deployment[12].
References
- ^ Korczyk, Dalton C. (May 2022). "Dynamic Analysis of CubeSat impact on Lunar Surface". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Scholarly Commons. p. ii. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Posada, Daniel; Hays, Christopher W.; Jordan, Jarred; Lopez, Daniel; Yow, Taylor; Malik, Aryslan; Henderson, Troy (2023). EagleCam: a 1.5U Low-Cost CubeSat Mission for a Novel Third-Person View of a Lunar Landing. 2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Big Sky, Montana, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (published May 15, 2023). ISBN 978-1-6654-9032-0. ISSN 1095-323X. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via IEEE Xplore.
- ^ a b Dunn, Marica (February 23, 2024). "Private US spacecraft is on its side on the moon with some antennas covered up, the company says". Associated Press. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Leone, Anthony (February 21, 2024). "Learning about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's EagleCam". Spectrum News 13 Orlando. Spectrum News. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Harper, Mark (February 22, 2024). "NASA, Intuitive Machines confirm Moon landing; ERAU awaits transmission of EagleCam images". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ a b c Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "EagleCam". Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ a b "Eagles Visit Intuitive Machines to Make Final Preparations on EagleCam CubeSat". Embry-Riddle Newsroom. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Cavaliere, Mike (February 28, 2024). "EagleCam Updates: Public Comments by Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University News. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Hirano, Daichi (October 7, 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Ross, Corbin (November 3, 2021). "LSU slated to be first university to land technology on the moon as U.S. returns to lunar surface 50 years later". The Reveille. Louisiana State University. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "Tiger Eye 1". SpaRTAN Physics Lab. SpaRTAN Physics Group. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Aupperlee, Aaron (January 8, 2024). "Carnegie Mellon University Payloads Iris, MoonArk Launch as Part of Historic Lunar Mission". Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Robinson-Smith, Will (December 19, 2023). "Blue Origin launches New Shepard rocket on return to flight mission". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Greshko, Michael (February 9, 2024). "Second Private U.S. Moon Lander Readies for Launch". Scientific American.
- ^ "NASA, Intuitive Machines Share Images from the Moon, Provide Science Updates – Artemis". blogs.nasa.gov. February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ @SpaceTechLab (February 28, 2024). "2/3 mission plans and procedures in order to deploy its CubeSat camera system. Despite the team's strong effort, the technical complications ultimately resulted in an inability to capture images of the Odysseus lander" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Congressional Record" (PDF). Congress.gov. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. March 20, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.