Tumultuous Landing for Odysseus   

On February 22nd, a robotic lander named Odysseus touched down on the south pole of the moon. It marked the first U.S. touchdown on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission, more than 50 years ago. Intuitive Machines, a Houston based company, primarily built Odysseus to collect lunar data. However, an error occurred during its landing process. Instead of landing upright, the 14-foot Odysseus ended up on its side, hampering communication with Earth and power generation. Despite this mishap, Odysseus still managed to beam back pictures of the moon before it powered off. Although the overall journey was relatively cut short, Intuitive Machines gained a lot of attention for their efforts. This company has now become the first private business to join the elite group of successful moon missions. Another U.S. company launched its own lunar lander last month, but a fuel leak caused the aircraft to come crashing back to Earth. 

By: Pavithra Sankar  

Photo Credit: Science News  

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/science/odysseus-moon-lander-photos.html

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/26/odysseus-moon-lander-intuitive-machines