On February 22, Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander touched down near the Moon's south pole. It was the first American landing on the Moon since a 1972 Apollo mission. Unfortunately, it experienced a tough touchdown.
"We hit harder, and sort of skidded along the way," said Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus today where the first clear images of the lander were revealed. "The landing gear took the bulk of the load, and we broke one or two, possibly, landing gear" legs.
From Space.com:
Odysseus sat upright for about two seconds, on terrain with a roughly 12-degree slope. The lander then began tipping over, however, eventually coming to a rest about 30 degrees from the horizontal, Altemus said. It's propped off the ground a bit by one of its tanks or other pieces of equipment[…]
Odysseus' surface mission was envisioned to last just a week or so. The coming night may therefore kill the lander, cracking its electronics and its batteries — or perhaps not.
"We've also overcome challenge after challenge after challenge we didn't know that we would be able to get past, and he's a scrappy little dude," Lederer said. "So, I have confidence in Odie at this point. It's been incredible."
