You won’t believe what happened with the U.S. lunar lander near the moon’s south pole! Turns out, the private spacecraft, Odysseus, ended up on its side after touchdown. Intuitive Machines, the company behind it, initially thought everything was fine, but CEO Steve Altemus spilled the beans on Friday, revealing the craft got a bit too eager and stumbled during landing, probably snapping a leg in the process.
Despite the unexpected tumble, Odysseus is still up and running, albeit with a slight communication hiccup because some antennas are facing the wrong way. These antennas were supposed to help with communication in the tricky lunar terrain.
Odysseus landed close to its intended spot, near the Malapert A crater, thanks to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter helping to pinpoint its location.
This mission is a big deal! Intuitive Machines made history by being the first private company to pull off a moon landing. NASA played a big role too, sponsoring the mission and providing experiments onboard.
Speaking of experiments, one of NASA’s gadgets saved the day when Odysseus’s navigation system failed. Thanks to quick thinking and a bit of luck, they managed to fix the problem just in time.
The mission isn’t over yet, though. Odysseus has about a week left to do its thing before lunar nightfall, which will put a freeze on its operations. This whole mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program, aiming to get astronauts back to the moon by 2026.
It’s been a wild ride, with a few bumps along the way, but Odysseus and the team at Intuitive Machines are proving that space exploration isn’t just for big government agencies anymore.
