Houston, Texas – The Intuitive Machines CEO, Steve Altemus, revealed during a NASA press conference on February 22, 2023, that the company’s IM-1 lander had tipped over on the moon’s surface. Initially reported as standing upright, the spacecraft was believed to have caught its landing gear sideways while touching down, leading to the tipping over, as per company executives.
Despite the setback, the Odysseus lander is still functional and transmitting data. However, its operational lifespan is expected to end on Tuesday morning when its solar panels will no longer receive sunlight. The incident caused Intuitive Machines’ stock to decrease by as much as 30% in Monday trading from its previous closing price of $9.59 a share.
The Odysseus lander was equipped to carry 12 government and commercial payloads, including six for NASA under a $118 million contract through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. NASA leadership noted that despite the lander tipping over, the mission was a success, lauding it as a significant accomplishment.
One of the payloads onboard, “EagleCam,” developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was meant to capture the first images of a moon landing from outside a spacecraft. However, due to a navigation system issue with the lander, the camera did not deploy as planned.
The images obtained from the landing, including the company’s cargo lander Odysseus flying toward the lunar surface and a wide field-of-view image after the tipping incident, provide valuable insights for ongoing lunar exploration efforts. Additionally, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera successfully identified Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander on the moon’s surface.