A trio of commercial space ventures has been tasked with designing a lunar terrain vehicle for the upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon, helping astronauts explore the south polar region as part of humanity’s return to the dusty satellite.
Landing on the Moon is one thing, but not getting lost on its gray, dusty surface presents an entirely different challenge. The Apollo astronauts eyeballed their way across the lunar terrain, but NASA is hoping to develop a better navigation system for future astronauts exploring the Moon.
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.
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.
After a nail-biting touchdown on the lunar surface that left Odysseus bent over on its side, the lander is ready for its nap. Intuitive Machines is getting ready to power down its lunar lander, with hopes that Odie may wake up once the Sun illuminates its functioning solar array again.
Following a less-than-perfect touchdown, the Odysseus lander has been spotted from lunar orbit while lying on its side on the surface of the Moon. The lunar lander also beamed back its first images from the Moon as it fights to stay alive before it runs out of power.
Things were looking good for Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander, which made a soft touchdown on the Moon on Thursday and became the first American lunar lander since Apollo in 1972. But on Friday evening, NASA and the private Houston-based company reported that Odie appeared to have landed askew and may be…
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.
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.
After an eight-day journey through space, Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission is ready to attempt a potentially historic landing on the surface of the Moon. Odysseus will try for a lunar touchdown on Thursday at 6:24 p.m. ET near the Malapert A crater in the Moon’s South Pole region.