Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus explains how the corporate’s IM-1 lander tipped over on the moon’s surfacing during a NASA press conference on Feb. 22, 2024.
NASA TV
Intuitive Machines’ cargo lander, Odysseus, returned its first images from the moon’s surface over the weekend, because the spacecraft settles in to its lunar destination.
The corporate’s historic IM-1 mission is now operating on the moon after landing on Thursday, becoming the primary privately developed spacecraft to soft land on the lunar surface.
Intuitive Machines initially reported Odysseus was standing upright. But in an update late Friday, company executives said they imagine the spacecraft caught its landing gear sideways within the moon’s surface while touching down and tipped over.
Despite resting on its side, Odysseus continues to be sending back data. Intuitive Machines expects Odysseus to operate until Tuesday morning, when its solar panels will not be exposed to the sun.
Intuitive Machines’ stock fell 35% in Monday trading to shut at $6.27 a share.
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The Odysseus lander carried 12 government and industrial payloads — six of that are for NASA under a $118 million contract through the agency’s Business Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative.
NASA leadership emphasized the IM-1 mission was still successful despite the spacecraft tipping over, calling the landing “a big accomplishment.”
The Nova-C lunar lander designed by aerospace company Intuitive Machines is displayed at the corporate’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 3, 2023.
Staff | Reuters
One in every of the payloads, “EagleCam,” is a small camera developed by Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. Originally, EagleCam was to be ejected in the ultimate moments of Odysseus’ landing, to capture the primary images of a moon landing from outside a spacecraft, but a difficulty with the lander’s navigation system meant the camera didn’t deploy. Embry-Riddle’s team said Intuitive Machines still plans to release EagleCam from the lander at a later time.
Listed below are among the initial images from the landing:
Coming in for landing
The corporate’s cargo lander Odysseus is seen flying toward the lunar surface in preparation for its landing on Feb. 22, 2024.
Intuitive Machines
On the surface
A large field-of-view image taken shortly after Odysseus tipped over.
Intuitive Machines
Spotted from above
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera identified Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander on the surface.
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
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