US lunar lander hibernates ‘permanently’ after historic landing

An unmanned US lander that became the first private spacecraft on the moon has met its end after failing to “wake up”, the company that built the lunar lander said.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines said late Saturday that the lander, called Odysseus, has not yet called home this week because its solar panels are expected to receive enough sunlight to turn on the radio.

The lander touched down at an unstable angle on February 22, but still completed multiple tests and sent back photos, and a week later its mission was determined to be over as it entered a weeks-long moonlit night.

Intuitive Machines had hoped that it would “wake up” once it was exposed to sunlight again, as Japan’s SLIM spacecraft (which landed upside down in January) did last month.

After days of waiting, operators have confirmed that the power system of the lander nicknamed “Odie” is “unable to complete another callback,” the company said on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

“This confirms that Odea, after etching itself into history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the moon, is gone forever,” the statement said.

Despite encountering multiple problems along the way, including a rollover during landing, both Intuitive Machines and NASA hailed the mission as a success.

This is also the first time a U.S. spacecraft has landed on the moon since the manned Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon later this decade. It paid Intuitive Machines about $120 million for the mission as part of a plan to entrust cargo missions to the private sector and stimulate the lunar economy.

Odysseus carries a suite of NASA instruments designed to improve scientific understanding of the lunar south pole, where the space agency plans to send astronauts later this decade.

Intuitive Machines plans two more lunar missions this year, both part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program in partnership with the private sector.

The U.S. and international partners hope to eventually develop long-term habitats in the region, collect polar ice for drinking water and produce rocket fuel for eventual voyages to Mars.