Intuitive Machines shares came back down to Earth on Monday after the space exploration company’s Odysseus lunar lander took a tumble on the surface of the moon.
Intuitive Machines caught the world’s attention last week when it conducted the first private mission to touch down on the moon, and the first unmanned mission to Earth's celestial satellite in over 50 years.
In a statement Friday morning, the Houston-based business confirmed Odysseus was on the ground near the lunar south pole.
Unfortunately, Ody’s adventure had a hiccup, with Intuitive Machines confirming the lander pitched over “during its approach to the landing site”.
Chief executive Steve Altemus suggested the robot may have snagged one of its feet on the surface.
Thankfully, not before taking some excellent pictures of its descent to the surface.
For the first time since the Apollo era, new NASA science instruments and tech demonstrations are operating on the Moon after @Int_Machines' Odysseus lander arrived on the lunar surface: https://t.co/l1VaQujvOZ
The IM-1 mission team expects to receive images in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/CZZXLG43C1
— NASA (@NASA) February 24, 2024
Shares in the group also pitched over by a quarter when US markets opened on Monday, though they remain over 200% higher year to date.
Intuitive Machines has payload contracts with NASA through its four business wings- Lunar Access Services, Orbital Services, Lunar Data Services, and Space Products and Infrastructure.
Intuitive Machines went public during the SPAC boom in January 2021 through a reverse merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which this mission (called IM-1) is part of, aims to send astronauts back to the moon in 2026, 54 years after Gene Cernan became the eleventh human being to walk on the Moon in the Apollo 17 mission.