Odysseus Moon lander probably lying on its side with head resting against rock, owner claims

THE Odysseus Moon lander is probably lying on its side with its head resting against a rock, its owner has said.

The spacecraft made the first privately funded landing when it touched down on Thursday night.

Intuitive Machines boss Steve Altemus said: “The vehicle is stable, near or at our intended landing site. We have communications with the lander.”

It was thought the craft might have caught a foot on the surface and fallen awkwardly.

But Mr Altemus said it was in the right position for the Sun and its batteries were fully charged.

His team is hoping to download surface photos soon — using data received by the Goonhilly Earth Station satellite dish in Cornwall.

The mission will help advance landing technology for future missions and also help establish how landing can disturb the lunar surface.

Mr Altemus said: "If you think back from Apollo days, there wasn't one mission that went absolutely perfectly so you have to be adaptable.

"You have to be innovative and you have to persevere, and we persevered. Right up until the last moments to get this soft touchdown like we wanted to."

Nasa is hoping to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in Autumm 2026 after announcing earlier this year that timetables had been delayed by about a year as safety was a top priority.

The Artemis programme will see construction of the Lunar Gateway - a space station where astronauts will be able to live and work.

The successful mission, IM-1, comes a month after another US spacecraft, Peregrine, failed to touch down on the lunar surface after a fuel leak.

The failure of Peregrine, operated by US company Astrobotic, marked the third time a private company had been unable to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.