Officials are still trying to obtain photos from the moon’s surface.
As the world waits for Odysseus to transmit the first images from the moon’s surface, officials announced Friday afternoon that the lunar lander may have failed.
Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based private company affiliated with NASA, said Friday that it believes Odie hit a rock and overturned during landing.
The company said the majority of the lander’s payload is operational and the solar-powered Odee has 100% battery power.
Odysseus is the first US-based spacecraft to land on the moon in more than 50 years. It was also the first commercial moon landing in U.S. history.
The spacecraft launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week, entered lunar orbit on Wednesday, and then descended to land on the moon’s surface.
As of Friday night, the lander had not sent back images from the lunar surface, but Intuitive Machines released one image taken when it accessed Audi’s camera during the flight.
The image was taken about 6 miles above a crater near the moon’s south pole and about 124 miles from the landing site, the company said.
The lander will have five NASA satellites, including a radio beacon to transmit precise geolocation information and a camera to capture how the moon’s surface changes as it interacts with the spacecraft’s engine plume. In addition to equipment, it also carries commercial cargo.
