Washington: The first photographs from the American lunar lander that overturned during landing have been transmitted back from the southernmost point on the Moon ever reached by a spacecraft.
In a first for the private sector, the unmanned Odysseus, constructed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, enabled the United States to achieve a landing on Earth’s cosmic neighbour after a five-decade gap.
Two images were attached to the post: one captured the hexagon-shaped spaceship during its descent, and the other, taken 35 seconds after it toppled, showed the Malapert A impact crater’s pockmarked dirt.
NASA paid Intuitive Machines approximately $120 million for the mission to return humans to the Moon later this decade as part of a new push to assign cargo missions to the private sector and foster a commercial lunar economy.
NASA’s Odysseus spacecraft is equipped with a suite of equipment intended to enhance scientific knowledge of the lunar south pole, where astronauts will be sent later this decade as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
In contrast to Apollo, the goal is to construct long-term settlements and gather polar ice for fuel for future Mars missions as well as drinking water.
On Saturday, the 4.0-meter (13-foot) tall “Nova-C” class lander was photographed by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) probe at a location 1.5 kilometres (a mile) from its planned landing site.
