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The Odysseus lander has sent back a final double from the moon ’s airfoil in a " leave-taking transmitting " before it plunges into the lunar night .
The first U.S. spacecraft to land onthe moonin 50 years has fallen silent just one calendar week after touching down .
Odysseus’s final ‘farewell’ image of its landing site on the moon’s south pole.
The lander , built by Houston - ground company Intuitive Machines , arrived at the lunar south pole at 6:23 p.m. EST on Feb. 22 , making it the firstU.S. lander to park on the moonsince Apollo 17 in 1972 .
But Odysseus ' journeying was n’t without its trials . First , a malfunction with the craft ’s landing lasers force it to apply a computer backup , and the lander thensnapped one of its six leg upon touchdown , induce it to fall and bump its head against a John Rock .
Now , as lunar night approaches , flying controllers have regularise the face - planted craft to power down . Two to three workweek of vitriolic coldness and darkness lie ahead . Without any sunlight striking the tipped spaceship ’s solar panels , it ’s far from certain it will reawaken .
A full view of the lander’s final photo before powering down.
associate : Intuitive Machines moon lander beams home stunning photos of Earth from blank
Odysseus sent one last photo to Earth before it powered down .
" Before its power was run through , Odysseus make out a fitting farewell transmittance . invite today , this image from February 22nd showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop , a subtle monitor of humanity ’s comportment in the universe , " Intuitive Machineswrote on X , formerly known as Twitter , on Thursday ( Feb. 29 ) alongside the lander ’s possibly last photo . " Goodnight , Odie . We hope to get a line from you again . "
— The moonlight is shrinking , causing landslides and moonquakes exactly where NASA wants to build up its 1st lunar colony
— Elon Musk ’s SpaceX could set in motion a private moon lander within week
— speck landing : NASA orbiter spies Japan ’s revived SLIM moon lander on lunar surface
" I think what we ’re go to do is kind of tuck Odie in for the frigid night of the moon and see if we ca n’t wake him up here when we get a solar noon here in about three weeks , " Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said at a news league on Wednesday ( Feb. 28 ) .
Odysseus launched atop aSpaceXFalcon 9 rocket fromNASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral , Florida on Feb. 15 and enter lunar scope on Feb. 21 . It dispatch one tight loop topology above the lunar surface before slowing for land with a few well - timed railway locomotive flare-up .
The lander get close to the Malapert A volcanic crater at the lunar south rod . The region has long rag scientist because it check water ice , which could one day bebroken down into atomic number 1 and oxygen for rocket fuel , according to NASA .
The Odysseus mission is part of NASA ’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services political program , which the space agency instal to incentivize the development of secret - sphere lunar Lander . NASA intends to constrict these companies to enchant cargo and scientific equipment to the moonlight .
