Moon lander Odysseus mission to be cut short after sideways touchdown

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander shows an image from its Malapert A landing site on the surface of the moon, in this low resolution handout picture released February 26, 2024. Intuitive Machines/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) -Flight control engineers expect to lose contact with the private U.S. moon lander Odysseus on Tuesday morning, cutting short the mission five days after its sideways touchdown, the company behind the spacecraft, Intuitive Machines, said on Monday.

It remained to be seen how much scientific data might be lost as a result of the shortened lifespan of Odysseus, which according to previous estimates from the company and its biggest customer, NASA, was supposed to operate on the moon for seven to 10 days.