Enlarge image
This is the last photo that “Odysseus” sent of the moon on Thursday (US local time).
Photo: AFP
“Good night, Odie.
We hope to hear from you again." With these words, the US company Intuitive Machines said goodbye to its lunar module "Odysseus" on the X network on Thursday (local time).
A spokesman for Intuitive Machines said that "Odysseus" had made a "farewell transmission" with the last reserves of its batteries and was now taking "a long nap."
See you again in two to three weeks?
The robot could wake up again in two to three weeks when the sun reaches its location again.
The computer and power systems of "Odysseus" are in standby mode.
The crucial question now is whether the lander will survive the bitterly cold moonlit night.
"We're going to pack Odie up for the cold and see if we can wake him up again when the sun comes back," said Steve Altemus, head of Intutive Machines.
This was not part of the mission's original plan, but they wanted to try it in order to possibly be able to collect further data.
The lunar probe apparently broke at least one leg when it landed on the moon and tipped over.
According to Intuitive Machines, it descended too quickly upon landing and skidded.
The tilt affected communication and power supply.
Altemus still describes the mission as “very successful.”
The “robust and courageous lander” did a great job.
Despite its tilted position, “Odysseus” collected data and sent images to Earth.
The recordings confirmed, among other things, that the robot landed in a crater called “Malapart A” within a radius of 1.5 kilometers from the originally targeted landing site.
This means it is further south on the moon than any other spacecraft has ever been.
Scientists suspect numerous mineral resources in the area.
“Odysseus” is about the size of an old-fashioned British telephone booth, has aluminum legs, weighs around 700 kilograms and can carry around 130 kilograms of cargo.
NASA has used a large part of it with research equipment and other material, while commercial companies have secured the rest for their projects.
The mission is part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program.
With this program, the US space agency wants to collect as much knowledge as possible on its own way back to the moon comparatively cheaply and efficiently by awarding contracts for lunar landings to private companies and working with them.
Moon landings are considered to be technically extremely demanding and often go wrong.
This year alone, two planned landings have turned out differently than hoped.
vet/dpa/Reuters