This week’s best space exploration success was the landing of the Blue Ghost lander, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme.
It soft-landed on the Moon’s surface on 2 March and, despite its lander not being designed to withstand the cold of lunar night, all of its scientific payloads have already successfully completed their missions.
This was followed by Intuitive Machine’s NOVA-C lander, Athena, landing on the lunar surface, but it landed on its side rather than upright, a common failing in recent lunar landings.
The world’s first private asteroid mining mission was also lost, as well as SpaceX’s Starship test flight 8, which exploded soon after the booster separated.
In other news, Brother has been accused of sending firmware to printers that negates any functionality if non-OEM cartridges are used, despite initially being regarded as one of the more manufacturer’s more consumer-friendly models.
It is recommended either to avoid printers altogether or to buy the cheapest option and harvest it for parts.
