“Good Night, Odie”- Lunar Lander Odysseus Goes Silent After Falling Over on Moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts fell silent Thursday, a week after breaking a leg at touchdown and tipping over near the lunar south pole.

Read More: TIME’s Original 1969 Coverage of Apollo 11

Intuitive Machines’ lander, Odysseus, lasted longer than the company anticipated after it ended up on its side with hobbled solar power and communication.

The end came as flight controllers received one last photo from Odysseus and commanded its computer and power systems to standby. That way, the lander can wake up in another two to three weeks—if it survives the bitterly cold lunar night. Intuitive Machines spokesman Josh Marshall said these final steps drained the lander’s batteries and put Odysseus “down for a long nap.”

“Good night, Odie. We hope to hear from you again,” the company said via X, formerly Twitter.

Before losing power, Odysseus sent back what Intuitive Machines called “a fitting farewell transmission.”

Taken just before touchdown, the picture shows the bottom of the lander on the moon’s pockmarked surface, with a tiny crescent Earth and a small sun in the background.

The lander was originally intended to last about a week at the moon.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private business to land a spacecraft on the moon without crashing when Odysseus touched down Feb. 22. Only five countries had achieved that since the 1960s, including Japan, which made a sideways landing last month.

Read More: Why the Odysseus Moon Landing Is So Important

Odysseus carried six experiments for NASA, which paid $118 million for the ride. The first company to take part in NASA’s program for commercial lunar deliveries never made it to the moon; its lander came crashing back to Earth in January.

NASA views these private landers as scouts that will pave the way for astronauts due to arrive in another few years.

Until Odysseus, the last U.S. moon landing was by Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972.

Related Posts

Ayurvedic Therapeutic Massage In India – Part 2

Have you tried obtaining a massage due to a massage pt? Were you able to feel the relief from stresses and the entire body pains? Did you…

Best Sports Betting System – Excellent Why You’ve To One

Many spread betting brokerage firms provide their traders an exciting product since binary bet. This product was introduced in the united kingdom in the earlier you 2000s…

Capitalism Can’t Solve Climate Change

Amidst the gathering gloom about climate change and continuing growth in global greenhouse-gas emissions, the one bright spot appears to be clean energy development. 2023 saw another,…

What’s Your Risk Tolerance for COVID-19-

After a long spring and summer of shuttered restaurants, grounded flights and empty theaters, most states have gradually allowed at least some establishments to reopen, usually in…

WHO’s Latest COVID-19 Transmission Controversy

For months, researchers have warned that people without any COVID-19 symptoms could still be silent carriers of the disease, making it that much harder to get the…