WASHINGTON, United States: A US lunar lander that tipped over during its historic touchdown last week likely only has hours left on its batteries, the private company operating it said Tuesday.
Built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, the unmanned Odysseus is the first return of a U.S. spacecraft to the moon in 50 years and the first successful such mission by the private sector.
However, when the lander came down on the moon’s south pole, one of its legs caught on the ground, causing it to roll over and come to rest on its side.
The mission, which was partially funded by NASA, was originally supposed to last about seven days.
“Flight Controllers continue to communicate with Odysseus. This morning, Odysseus efficiently sent payload science data and imagery in furtherance of the Company’s mission objectives,” Intuitive Machines said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“Flight controllers are working on final determination of battery life on the lander, which may continue up to an additional 10-20 hours,” the update added.
Intuitive Machines announced Monday that it plans to continue collecting data from Odyssey until the lander’s solar panels are no longer exposed to light.
NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon by the end of this decade and has hired Intuitive Machines for the mission as part of a new effort to privatize cargo missions and stimulate the “lunar economy.” It costs approximately $120 million.
Odyssey carries a suite of instruments designed to help NASA improve scientific understanding of the moon’s south pole, and the space agency will send astronauts under its Artemis programme later this decade.
Unlike the US space agency’s Apollo mission, this mission will create long-term habitats and collect polar ice for drinking water and rocket fuel for future missions to Mars.
The company also released new photos taken by the spacecraft when it landed about 30 meters (100 feet) below the moon’s surface.
The images are the closest observation of any spaceflight mission to the moon’s south polar region, the company said.
Intuitive Machines joins an exclusive club of five countries that have achieved soft landings on the Moon: the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, China and India.
Japan’s space agency landed a probe on the moon last month, but it also crashed on its side.
But JAXA announced Monday that it was able to wake up the SLIM lander after a lunar night that lasted about two weeks on Earth.
