Broken moon lander beams back a final poignant photo — of Earth

A spacecraft on the moon is lying on its side. It snapped a leg while landing. And now it’s lost power. But before the freezing, two-week lunar night swept over Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus moon lander, the robotic craft beamed back one final transmission from space. It shows the cratered grey surface spreading to the lunar … Read more

Odysseus Lunar Lander Sent a Farewell Photo of Earth: Now What?

Goodbye, Odie. On Thursday, Houston-based space-exploration company Intuitive Machines bade farewell to Odysseus, the lunar lander that took the US to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The lander had been there for a week and will remain on the moon’s surface, inoperable but remembered as a historic achievement in the … Read more

Intuitive Machines’ first moon lander also broke ground with safer, cheaper rocket-style propulsion

Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander officially lost power today after spending seven days on the moon. The lander made history for being the first American hardware to reach the lunar surface since 1972 and the first privately built spacecraft to land on the moon. But the lander, called Odysseus, will be remembered for another reason: … Read more

Toppled Lunar Landers and More of February’s Best Space Images

Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus landing during its descent towards the lunar surface. Image: Intuitive Machines It was a topsy-turvy month in spaceflight, with yet another lunar lander falling over and an upsetting new view showing NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter missing a rotor blade, among other memorable moments. February is the shortest month of the year, but it … Read more

Landing on the Moon Wasn’t Easy for Odysseus, Which Clearly Has a Broken Leg in New Photo

A new photo of Odysseus released by NASA illustrates just how rough the lander’s journey to the Moon has been, shining a light on its spunky resilience against all odds. Moon Knight Gives Us Hope Taken on February 22, the day the lander touched down on the Moon, the photo shows Odysseus, affectionately called “Odie,” … Read more

The Odysseus lunar lander is on its side and will likely run out of energy soon

The Odysseus lander is likely to remain operating for another 24 hours on the Moon’s surface, despite being tipped over onto its side. Intuitive Machines, the private space company behind Odysseus, tweeted a few images taken by the spacecraft and gave more updates on how long the team expects it will remain operational. Because of … Read more

The Odysseus Lander Is Tipped Over on Its Side on the Moon

Intuitive Machines’ private lander stumbled on its way down to the lunar surface and is possibly leaning over on a rock on the Moon. The vehicle is still operational and flight engineers are working to gather more data on its less than ideal position, the company said. China’s Plan to Land Astronauts on the Moon … Read more

Quick thinking and a stroke of luck averted a moon lander disaster for Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines‘ spacecraft touched down yesterday on the lunar surface . . . sideways. CEO Steve Altemus confirmed during a press conference Friday that, while it wasn’t a perfect landing, it’s nothing short of a miracle the spacecraft landed intact at all. Using a small model of the lander, Altemus demonstrated how engineers believe the spacecraft, called Odysseus, made … Read more

Odysseus Lander Touches Down on the Moon

Intuitive Machines landed its Odysseus spacecraft on the Moon on Thursday at 6:23 p.m. ET, becoming the first private company to pull off a soft landing on the lunar surface. China’s Plan to Land Astronauts on the Moon The IM-1 mission delivered 12 payloads near the Malapert A crater in the Moon’s South Pole region … Read more

Intuitive Machines’ moon lander sent home its first images and they’re breathtaking

Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is well on its way to the moon after launching without a hitch on Thursday, but it managed to snap a few incredible images of Earth while it was still close to home. The company shared the first batch of images from the IM-1 mission on X today after confirming in … Read more