Source: AFP
An unpaid US lander that became the first private spacecraft to the Moon has met its end after failing to “wake up”, the company that built it said.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines said late Saturday that the lander, named Odysseus, had not called home this week when its solar panels were shown to be receiving enough sunlight to activate its radio.
The lander touched down at an awkward angle on February 22, but was still able to complete several tests and send back photos before its mission was deemed over a week later as it entered a weeks-long lunar night.
Intuitive Machines hoped it could “wake up” once it receives sunlight again, as Japan’s SLIM spacecraft — which landed upside down in January — did last month.
The company said Saturday on X, formerly Twitter, that after several days of waiting, operators confirmed that the aircraft’s power system, nicknamed “Odie,” “would not complete another call home.”
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![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/0ad84961052c21ea.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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“This confirms that Odie has faded permanently after cementing its legacy in history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon,” it said.
The mission was hailed as a success by Intuitive Machines and NASA, even though it encountered several problems along the way, including tipping over on landing.
It was also the first lunar landing by an American spacecraft since the manned Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon later this decade. It paid Intuitive Machines about $120 million for the mission as part of an initiative to outsource cargo missions to the private sector and stimulate a lunar economy.
Ulysses carried a suite of NASA instruments designed to improve scientific understanding of the lunar south pole, where the space agency plans to send astronauts as part of the Artemis program later this decade.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/8670617821376947.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/8670617821376947.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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Intuitive Machines has two more missions to the Moon planned this year, both as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which partners with the private sector.
The United States, along with international partners, eventually wants to develop long-term habitats in the region, harvesting polar ice for drinking water — and to produce rocket fuel for possible future trips to Mars.
Source: AFP