The Odysseus module, which made space history last week as the first private spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, broke its leg and then flipped over while landing on the lunar surface. According to the AP agency, this was stated by its manufacturer, the American company Intuitive Machines. However, it cannot be ruled out that the scientific work of the apparatus may continue even later.
The company expected the module to operate for at least a week overall, but now it says it is nearing a complete loss of power and will shut down operations with the coming lunar night — probably „today“ (Thursday, February 29), the AP wrote. However, not necessarily forever…
Intuitive Machines released images of the Odysseus lander alongside the IM-1 mission status press conference it held with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Wednesday evening – six days after the module landed.
The Nova-C spacecraft had too much speed during the landing maneuver near the south pole of the Moon, skidded and then overturned. This disrupted communications with Earth and the power capability, but data was still obtained from all six NASA science instruments on board.
