Intuitive Machines said its Moon lander Odie won’t be completing another call to Earth after powering down, ending the first American mission to the lunar surface since 1972.
The Nova-C Moon lander nicknamed Odysseus or “Odie” by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines powered down on Feb. 29, a week after landing and operating near the lunar South Pole.
Flight controllers put the robot to sleep as lunar night set, and the lander could not maintain power without sunlight. The hope was that Odie would survive the harsh temperatures and respond when sunlight returned to the shadowed region of the Moon.
On Saturday, Intuitive Machines said it had been listening for Odie’s wake-up signal since March 20 with no luck.
“As of March 23rd at 1030 a.m. CST, flight controllers decided their projections were correct, and Odie’s power system would not complete another call home,” the company wrote. “This confirms that Odie has permanently faded after cementing its legacy into history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon.”
Intuitive Machines launched its lunar mission known as IM-1 on a SpaceX rocket on Feb. 15 as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative.
The mission carried six NASA science instruments and commercial technologies to the lunar South Pole region known as Malapert.
IM-1 was the second CLPS mission to launch this year but the first for Intuitive Machines.
Another Moon lander mission by Pittsburgh company Astrobotics did not reach the lunar surface.
Odie arrived on the lunar surface after a nail-biting landing on Feb. 22. Flight controllers later learned the robotic lander had tipped over during the touchdown.
However, the mission still provided power to all its NASA payloads and was deemed successful by the company and the U.S. space agency.
Intuitive Machines managers have said the data obtained during this first mission continues to be reviewed by engineering teams.
The company is already planning another lunar mission known as IM-2.
