Odysseus lunar lander shuts down, aiming to extend time on surface

Odysseus is not dead yet. But soon it will be time to say, “Good night, lunar lander.”

Last week, Odysseus, a privately built robotic lunar lander, became the first American spacecraft in more than 50 years to land on the moon, and the first nongovernmental attempt ever to accomplish that feat.

But like the Homeric Greek hero it is named after, the lander has not had an easy journey with a beautiful and happy ending.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based company that built Odysseus, said the spacecraft continued to function but was scheduled to be shut down later on Wednesday.

“We executed a very successful mission,” said Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines.

The extension of the spacecraft’s life was the latest twist in the mission’s timeline, after the company suggested earlier this week that the lander’s operations could end on Tuesday and then said that day that the vehicle might no less than 20 hours of the remaining battery life.

Uncertainty about Odysseus’ condition has persisted since Thursday, when the rover reached the moon. That evening, after landing time had expired, Intuitive Machines flight controllers waited for several anxious minutes for a radio signal confirming the lander’s safe arrival at its destination in the moon’s south polar region. When the signal was detected, it was weak, indicating that the spacecraft’s main antennas were pointed away from Earth.

The next day, Intuitive Machines officials announced that Odysseus had fallen over after hitting the ground harder than planned. Instead of making a perfectly vertical landing, Odysseus was still moving sideways when he landed.

Engineers worked hard over the weekend to speed up communications with Odysseus and extract data from the spacecraft. The mission was originally expected to last nine to 10 days until the sun set on the solar-powered spacecraft. Instead, it appears that Odysseus will survive on the moon for about six days.

Odysseus might wake up again in a few weeks. Although it is not designed to survive the frigid moon night, the electronics can still come to life the next time the sun shines on the solar panels. A Japanese lunar lander, also solar powered, came back to life over the weekend after it had endured the lunar night.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information is announced.