Odysseus Moon lander may have ‘tipped’ and likely lying on its side but ‘stable’

Sign as much as our free weekly IndyTech e-newsletter delivered straight to your inbox

Sign as much as our free IndyTech e-newsletter

A lunar lander which grew to become the primary privately owned spacecraft to land on the Moon is “stable” and is likely lying on its side with its head resting towards a rock.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Odysseus lander, a personal spacecraft, touched down within the Moon’s south pole area at 23.23pm UK time on Thursday.

Steve Altemus, the chief govt and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, advised a press convention the lander may have “tipped” but it’s in communication with operators.

It is feasible the robotic may have caught a foot on the floor and fell as a result of it nonetheless had some lateral movement for the time being of touchdown.

Mr Altemus mentioned: “It’s pretty incredible, it was quite a spicy seven-day mission to get to the Moon.

“So just to begin with, the vehicle is stable, near or at our intended landing site. We do have communications with the lander.”

He mentioned they have been utilizing the Goonhilly Earth Station satellite tv for pc dish in Cornwall to obtain knowledge and he hoped to have floor images quickly.

He added the lander was in an excellent place, but its actual location within the South Pole area had not been pinpointed.

“We have the sun impinging on the solar arrays and charging our batteries,” he mentioned. “We are providing power to the spacecraft and we’re at 100% state of charge. That’s fantastic.”

The landing of the Nova-C Odysseus lander was the primary US touchdown on the Moon because the ultimate mission of the Apollo programme, Apollo 17, greater than 50 years in the past.

The mission will assist advance touchdown expertise for future missions and additionally assist set up how touchdown can disturb the lunar floor.

Mr Altemus mentioned: “If you think back from Apollo days, there wasn’t one mission that went absolutely perfectly so you have to be adaptable.

“You have to be innovative and you have to persevere, and we persevered. Right up until the last moments to get this soft touchdown like we wanted to.”

Nasa is hoping to return astronauts to the floor of the Moon in September 2026 after asserting earlier this 12 months that timetables had been delayed by a couple of 12 months as security was a prime precedence.

The Artemis programme will see the development of the Lunar Gateway – an area station the place astronauts will be capable of stay and work.

The profitable mission, IM-1, comes a month after one other US spacecraft, Peregrine, failed to the touch down on the lunar floor after a gas leak.

The failure of Peregrine, operated by US firm Astrobotic, marked the third time a personal firm had been unable to attain a tender touchdown on the lunar floor.