The Odysseus lander has sent its last photo to Earth before running out of power. The spacecraft has now gone into standby mode for the long lunar night.
The image was published by Intuitive Machines, the company that developed the device.
“Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you again,” captioned Intuitive Machines with a photo she posted on the X platform.
As a reminder, SpaceX sent a lander to the moon on February 15. Soon after, Intuitive Machines shared the first images of Odysseus against the Earth.
The news surrounding Odysseus was followed by many people, as it was the first time in history that a private company’s vehicle landed on the lunar surface. The mission is also important for the United States in general, as the country has not made a successful lunar landing since 1972.
Eventually, Odysseus reached its final destination and landed on the lunar surface. But soon it was reported that the module had caught on uneven lunar surfaces and damaged the landing gear. According to reports, the spacecraft rolled over on its side, making it impossible to fully utilize the solar panels.
Intuitive Machines constantly shared information about the situation around the lander. For example, on February 27, it showed photos taken by the device above the lunar surface.
On the same day, the American company assumed that Odysseus’s power would last about 10-20 hours. But the module continued to work longer than expected and sent scientific data to Earth.
The mission faced various problems, such as errors during the preparation of the module back on Earth. However, it is worth paying attention to the achievements. For example, the mission made the first-ever successful landing on the Moon using a cryogenic fuel engine.
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