Intuitive Machines received a farewell transmission from its Odysseus lander a week after the spacecraft became the first U.S. lander to reach the lunar surface in over 50 years.
The company said it received one final image, which it deemed to be a “fitting farewell transmission,” before the power ran out and the lander entered the lunar night.
Before its power was depleted, Odysseus completed a fitting farewell transmission. Received today, this image from February 22nd showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop, a subtle reminder of humanity’s presence in the universe.
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 29, 2024
Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you… pic.twitter.com/RwOWsH1TSz
“Received today, this image from February 22nd showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop, a subtle reminder of humanity’s presence in the universe,” the company said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you again.”
Earlier on Thursday, the company said it had commanded the lander to go “into a configuration that he may phone home if and when he wakes up when the sun rises again.” Odysseus may wake up from its hibernation if it survives the lunar night, which lasts roughly two weeks.
Odysseus marked the first time since 1972, with the Apollo program, that the United States landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface when it landed on the moon on its side, hurting its initial communications. The lander lasted longer than the company had initially anticipated after its hobbled landing.
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Odysseus’s mission was to research the surface of the moon’s south pole, aided by a $118 million contract from NASA to deliver six instruments to the lunar surface ahead of the space agency’s planned return to the moon with the Artemis program.
Artemis I, an unmanned mission around the moon, was completed in late 2022. Artemis II is set for September 2025, while Artemis III, which will be the first planned manned lunar landing of the program, is scheduled to launch in 2026.
