Odysseus' Sideways Turn: New Photos Unveil Lunar Surface Chaos and Lander Damage in NASA's Historic Moon Landing

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus moon lander successfully landed near the lunar south pole last week and now holds the distinction of being the first commercially constructed lander to endure the journey.

However, NASA's momentous comeback to the lunar surface faced challenges, encompassing both physical and software hurdles. Now, new photos show catastrophic damage to the moon lander.

NASA-Intuitive Machines News Conference Highlights IM-1 Mission Challenges and Successes

A news conference, jointly held on February 28 by NASA and Intuitive Machines, delivered updates on the six NASA instruments deployed during the IM-1 mission. The briefing covered both the challenges and successes of the mission, emphasizing the successful download of over 350 megabits of science data for analysis.

All powered NASA payloads operated and received data during transit, with collected guidance and navigation data during descent and landing expected to enhance future landing precision. All three payloads designed for surface operation received data.

Accessible now are the first images from the lunar surface, unveiling the lander's orientation and providing a glimpse of the Moon's South Pole region. Intuitive Machines suggested that two actions captured in one image allowed Odysseus to gently lean into the lunar surface, preserving its capability to collect scientific data. After successfully transmitting the image to Earth, additional insights into Odysseus' position on the lunar surface were obtained.

On February 22, marking the United States' first return since Apollo 17, NASA's science instruments and technology on Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander, named Odysseus, touched down on the Moon's South Pole region. This event also marked the initial landing under NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, facilitating the transmission of valuable science data from each NASA payload on the lunar surface.

Unraveling Odysseus Lander's Damage After Its Turbulent Descent

Despite the successful landing, the Odysseus lander deviated from the vertical descent, moving sideways, scraping the surface, and ultimately toppling over. A recent image shared illustrates the resulting damage, with scattered pieces on the lunar surface. During a Wednesday news conference, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus shared this information, providing details about the damaged landing gear and broken pieces on the left side of the image.

The time remaining for Odysseus' operations remains uncertain. Engineers are in a race against the clock to maximize data downloads due to its antennas being positioned in a less-than-ideal direction.

As lunar night approaches, casting the lander into complete darkness, the urgency is heightened. Altemus noted, "We are anticipating a period when solar power generation may not sustain Odie's telemetry transmission."

Despite the challenges, there exists a slim possibility that Odysseus could revive after enduring a two-week-long, frigid lunar night. It's worth noting that Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, which also landed at an awkward angle, astonishingly reactivated and resumed transmission on Monday.

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