Odysseus tipped over and landed on its side on the moon's surface. What happens now?
A commercial spacecraft landed on the moon late Thursday, the first U.S.-made craft to touch down in more than 50 years – but the craft tipped over as it neared the lunar surface and came down on its side.
Odysseus is still functioning, but it appears to be lying on an upward angle on the surface, indicating the top of the craft is on a rock, or a slope.
Images aren't yet available, but some of the lander's antennas, located near the top of the vehicle, are pointed to the lunar surface. That limits the amount of data the craft can send.
However, "So far, we have quite a bit of operational capability even though we're tipped over," said Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines in a press briefing Friday.
The uncrewed Nova-C lander, built by Intuitive Machines of Houston, was launched by a SpaceX rocket on Feb. 15. It's the first American vehicle to land on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
More:Odysseus mission will be cut short after craft tipped over
Company officials said the craft landed too fast and may have caught one of its six landing pads in the lunar surface, forcing the tip-over. The landing strut may have snapped.
Officials originally believed the craft had landed upright. New telemetry showed otherwise.
Some radio antennas are pointed at Earth and that the craft's solar cells are still able to charge its batteries. The science instruments inside the lander are on the side that's facing upward, which will allow them to operate to some degree.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will search for the lander this week.
Odysseus is a 14-foot tall, six-sided cylinder with six landing legs. It landed near Malapert A, a small crater about 190 miles from the moon's south pole.
Learn more: Details on the landing
The lunar south pole has become the focus of exploration because it contains water ice. That could help sustain astronauts on the surface and be a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
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Nova-C moon lander Odysseus
Odysseus carries six NASA scientific experiments
The lander's IM-1 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The initiative pairs NASA with several American companies to send science payloads to the lunar surface with a series of contracts totaling $2.6 billion through 2028.
Payloads aboard Odysseus:
Other moon landings: Successes, failures, plans
India landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft in the moon’s south polar region on Aug. 23, 2023.
Russia’s Luna-25 crashed into the lunar surface while attempting to land on Aug. 20, 2023.
NASA plans to launch its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, a robot rover that will record and map images of water ice late this year.
NASA's Artemis III plans to land humans near the south pole in September 2026.
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CONTRIBUTING Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; NASA; space.com; Associated Press