Historic Odysseus lunar lander lying on its side after tripping over its own FEET

THE historic Odysseus lunar lander was left on its side after tripping over its own feet.

The spacecraft landed Thursday evening in the first privately funded space landing.

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The craft’s laser-based rangefinders failed in flight but managed to avoid an emergency landing.

However, experts believe the six-legged device has now tripped over its own feet, Reuters reports.

CEO Stephen Altemus, whose company built and operated the lander, told reporters that the spacecraft reportedly hit one of its landing feet on the uneven lunar surface and fell over.

The vessel is believed to be propped on a rock, he added.

Crucially, the company boss said his team was still in contact with the vessel.

But he added that two of the spacecraft’s antennas were pointed toward the surface, which will limit communications.

The mission will help advance landing technology for future missions and also help determine how landings can disrupt the lunar surface.

Mr Altemus said: “If you think back to the time of Apollo, there wasn’t one mission that went absolutely perfect, so you have to be flexible.

“You have to be innovative and persevere, and we persevered until the last moments to get this soft touchdown the way we wanted.”

NASA hopes to return astronauts to the moon’s surface in the fall of 2026, after announcing earlier this year that schedules had been pushed back by about a year because safety was a top priority.

Under the Artemis program, the Lunar Gateway will be built – a space station where astronauts can live and work.

The successful mission, IM-1, comes a month after another US spacecraft, Peregrine, failed to reach the moon’s surface following a fuel leak.

The failure of Peregrine, operated by US company Astrobotic, marked the third time a private company has failed to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.