(Bloomberg) — The U.S.-built lander that landed on the moon likely landed on its side, officials said.
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Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based manufacturer of the spacecraft, said in a news conference late Friday that the spacecraft was still transmitting data and could be recharged. The company also said the lander still has operational capability.
The update could be a setback for Intuitive Machines and partner NASA, which initially declared the vehicle to be upright. The landing was hailed as the first commercial lander to reach the moon intact, beating a series of failures by other companies.
The mission already faced a hurdle before landing when the company learned that a laser designed to navigate the moon’s terrain wasn’t working properly. Intuitive Machines switched to his LIDAR equipment for NASA and sent the lander to make one more orbit around the moon to upload software patches to enhance the LIDAR’s capabilities.
Intuitive Machines said it incorrectly believed the lander was upright on Thursday because of a data flaw.
The vehicle, a Nova-C lander nicknamed Odysseus, carried six payloads for NASA and five payloads from commercial customers, including a sculpture by artist Jeff Koons. One of the payloads may have been damaged, the company said.
The revelation caused the company’s stock price to plummet by as much as 39% after regular trading in New York.
The development highlights the difficulty of landing a robotic aircraft on the uneven surface of the moon. The Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL attempted a test in 2019, but the craft entered the space too quickly and crashed to the ground. Last year, Tokyo-based iSpace lost contact with its lander and likely crashed. And in January, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s lander suffered an engine failure shortly after reaching space.
–With assistance from Anne Cronin and Dave Merrill.
(Updates lander details from fourth paragraph.)
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