At some point after its historic touchdown, the primary non-public spacecraft on the moon is in good situation however has toppled over, the corporate that constructed it reported on Friday.

The spacecraft, named Odysseus, set down within the moon’s south pole area on Thursday night, the primary U.S. automobile to land softly on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Initially, Intuitive Machines, which constructed Odysseus, mentioned that the craft had landed upright, however a subsequent evaluation of knowledge confirmed that it had come to relaxation at an angle. Which means the spacecraft’s antennas are usually not pointed at Earth, limiting the quantity of knowledge that may be despatched backwards and forwards.

Odysseus has not but been in a position to ship again any pictures since touchdown. Engineers at Intuitive are nonetheless making an attempt to extract extra info from the spacecraft.

“The automobile is steady close to or at our supposed touchdown website,” Steve Altemus, the chief government of Intuitive Machines, mentioned throughout a NASA information convention on Friday. “We do have communications with the lander.”

He added, “That’s phenomenal to start with.”

However he and Tim Crain, the chief expertise officer, additionally described unexpected glitches that had almost doomed the mission. The touchdown was salvaged via serendipity and frantic work, they mentioned.

This growing story can be up to date.