The American Odysseus probe sends its first pictures of the south of the Moon

But twists and turns, particularly the failure of the navigation system, complicated the final landing and the probe found itself lying on one side instead of landing vertically.

“Odysseus continues to communicate with Nova Control flight controllers from the lunar surface,” Intuitive Machines said Monday, posting two images on the X, one of the spacecraft landing and another taken thirty-five seconds after it fell, revealing lunar debris. Malaparte crater.

The device specifically transports scientific instruments from NASA, which wants to explore the south pole of the moon before sending its astronauts there, as part of the Artemis missions. The US Space Agency decided to request this service from private companies.

This strategy should allow him to make the trip more often and for less money. But also to stimulate the development of a lunar economy, capable of supporting a permanent human presence on the Moon, which is one of the goals of the Artemis programme.

“Little downsides”

Astronomer and space mission expert Jonathan McDowell commented on it as a “success with small flaws,” estimating that if “there are certainly things to work out for upcoming missions,” NASA's project is headed in the right direction.

The Japanese space agency JAXA announced on Monday that the Japanese SLIM probe, which has been placed on the moon since the end of January, has been activated again. It is also placed at an angle and its west-facing photovoltaic cells do not receive sunlight.