- A good three weeks ago, the Odysseus lander on the moon ran out of power.
- Now it is clear that it has fallen silent forever.
The US company Intuitive Machines said at the weekend that it was not possible to “wake up” the device again. Even after the end of the night on the moon, the data transmission did not start again.
On February 22nd, Odysseus was the first lunar lander of a private mission in history to successfully land on Earth’s satellite. It was also the USA’s first moon landing in more than 50 years.
Legend:
The damaged leg of the Odysseus lander.
Keystone/AP Intuitive Machines (Archive)
However, during the difficult landing maneuver, one of Odysseus’s legs got caught on the lunar surface, causing the device to tip over sideways.
In rest mode since the end of February
Despite lying on his side, Odysseus initially continued to receive electricity from his solar panels. The high-tech device was able to send photos and other data to Earth.
At the end of February, Intuitive Machines announced that the lunar lander had run out of power reserves and that the device had been put into sleep mode.
At the same time, the company behind Odysseus expressed the hope that new contact would be possible again. The Houston, Texas-based company hoped to reactivate the device as the night on the moon ended. This hope was not fulfilled. “Odie fell asleep forever,” explained Intuitive Machines.