A private lander last week made the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years when Intuitive Machine’s lander touched down. The lander was expected to stop working Tuesday, its mission cut short after landing sideways near the south pole of the moon. Experimental Aircraft Association’s Dick Knapinski says it shows how hard making a soft landing on the moon is. “Everybody thinks why can’t you just replicate the technology you had for the Apollo program? It’s not that easy,” Knapinski told AM 1170s Between the Lines program. “First of all 50 years have gone by. A lot of that knowledge that was institutional is no longer at NASA.” “Somebody equated it to taking your golf driver and hitting a drive in New York and trying to hit a golf hole in Los Angelas.” Intuitive Machines, the Houston company that built and flew the spacecraft, said it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels. Knapinski reminds people that NASA people will be attending EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this summer so you can come and talk to them and learn more about the moon landing.
