Paul Slaboch, department chair and director of the Aerospace Engineering Program in CETA, recently sat down with NBC CT to weigh in on what the first U.S. moon landing in 50 years means for space travel.
This milestone moon landing for U.S. spacecraft Odysseus was the first U.S. mission to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. What has taken so long? Slaboch explains that factors such as national politics and long-term building of infrastructure have contributed to this gap.
The goal of this mission was to look for the first signs and testing capabilities, to ensure that future landings will be successful. Instruments on board were used to measure landing zones, soil, water around the craters, how much dust would kick up when they landed, and more. Communication challenges arose when there were signal errors, but overall, the mission was a success.