bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

A private US spacecraft that touched down on the moon ended up on its side, company officials said on Friday.
The Odysseus lander was communicating with ground controllers and was sending back data after landing on Thursday.
Intuitive Machines, the company that built the six-footed lander, initially said it was upright.
But CEO Steve Altemus said Friday that the lander “caught a foot in the surface and tipped” and landed on its side.


It was the first US moon landing in more than 50 years since the Apollo era.
Altemus said the lander was “near or at its intended landing site”.
The Houston company was shooting for the south polar region, near the Malapert A crater, closer to the pole than anyone else so Nasa could scout out the area before astronauts show up later this decade.
With Thursday’s touchdown, Intuitive Machines became the first private business to pull off a moon landing, a feat previously achieved by only five countries.
Chinese and US astronomers to view universe through Odysseus’ eyes
The mission was sponsored in large part by Nasa, whose experiments were on board. Nasa paid US$118 million for the delivery under a programme meant to jump-start the lunar economy.
One of the Nasa experiments was pressed into service when the lander’s navigation system failed in the final few hours before touchdown. The lander took an extra lap around the moon to allow time for the last-minute switch to Nasa’s laser system.
“Odie is a scrapper,” mission director Tim Crain said late on Thursday via X, formerly Twitter.
Another experiment, a cube with four cameras, was supposed to pop off 30 seconds before touchdown to capture pictures of Odysseus’ landing. But Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s EagleCam was deliberately powered off during the final descent because of the navigation switch and stayed attached to the lander.
Embry-Riddle’s Troy Henderson said his team will try to release EagleCam in the coming days, so it can photograph the lander from roughly 26 feet (8 metres) away.

Lunar Surface Day One Update (23FEB2024 0818 CST)
Odysseus is alive and well. Flight controllers are communicating and commanding the vehicle to download science data. The lander has good telemetry and solar charging.
We continue to learn more about the vehicle’s specific…
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 23, 2024

With lingering uncertainty over Odysseus’ position on the moon, “getting that final picture of the lander on the surface is still an incredibly important task for us,” Henderson said.
Intuitive Machines anticipates just a week of operations on the moon for the solar-powered lander, before lunar nightfall hits.
The company was the second business to aim for the moon under Nasa’s commercial lunar services programme. Last month, Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Technology gave it a shot, but a fuel leak on the lander cut the mission short and the craft ended up crashing back to Earth.
Until Thursday, the US had not landed on the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out Nasa’s famed moon-landing programme in December 1972.
Nasa’s new effort to return astronauts to the moon is named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister. The first Artemis crew landing is planned for 2026 at the earliest.


Economist Huang Yiping on why China’s AI push must be ‘job-oriented’

Release of 100 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren secured by government, UN reports

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he has divested his soybean farm

Chinese desalination plant makes fresh water cheaper than tap water – plus green hydrogen

United States

Private US spacecraft lying on its side after historic moon landing, firm says

The Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander is seen in Houston in October 2023. The company is sending sending commands to the craft to acquire data. Photo: Intuitive Machines via AP, File

Odysseus mission: why it took the US 51 years to get back on the moon

Earth and the moon as seen from the Apollo 17 spacecraft, the final lunar landing mission of the Apollo programme in 1972. File photo: Getty Images

Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander. Photo: Intuitive Machines via AP

US astronaut Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon in 1972. File photo: Nasa

Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon landed upside down on the moon in January. Photo: JAXA via AP

Commercial US spaceship lands on moon, a historic first for private industry

The Intuitive Machines Odysseus lunar lander is seen over the near side of the moon on Wednesday. Photo: Intuitive Machines via AP

The Odysseus lunar lander with Earth in the background on February 16. Photo: Intuitive Machines via AP

Japan ‘Moon Sniper’ lands but power running low, space agency says

An artist illustration depicts Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) in its landing phase. Image: JAXA via EPA-EFE

A live stream shows landing information as Japan’s moon rover attempts its lunar landing. Image: JAXA via AP

News

World

United States & Canada

Intuitive Machines is communicating with the Odysseus, but lander is believed to have tipped over after it ‘caught a foot’ on the lunar surface
Researchers are hoping to release the experimental EagleCam in coming days to capture images of the vehicle


Intuitive Machines is communicating with the Odysseus, but lander is believed to have tipped over after it ‘caught a foot’ on the lunar surface.


Space

Science

Private US spacecraft lying on its side after historic moon landing, firm says

Intuitive Machines is communicating with the Odysseus, but lander is believed to have tipped over after it ‘caught a foot’ on the lunar surface Researchers are hoping to release the experimental EagleCam in coming days to capture images of the vehicle

Intuitive Machines is communicating with the Odysseus, but lander is believed to have tipped over after it ‘caught a foot’ on the lunar surface

Researchers are hoping to release the experimental EagleCam in coming days to capture images of the vehicle