On the moon, the American Odysseus probe will soon run out of batteries

Its mission to the moon was supposed to last about seven days, but will likely be shortened: American company Intuitive Machines announced Tuesday morning that the batteries of its lander, named Odysseus, will not last for 10 to 20 additional hours.

Last Thursday, Odysseus became the first private probe to land on the Moon, and the first American spacecraft to do so since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. But instead of landing all six feet straight, Odysseus, who is more than four meters tall, probably fell down, and fell on his side, according to the ‘Occupation’ analysis.

On Monday, Intuitive Machines indicated that it would continue to recover the data “Until the moon’s solar panels are exposed to light”. “Given the conditions of the Earth and Moon, we believe that flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning.”she added.

Probing South of the Moon

Then, on Tuesday morning, the company published a new message, indicating that the lander’s batteries could still hold. “Up to 10-20 additional hours”. She said she is working to determine the exact moment of the end of his life. Initially, the probe’s ground operations were expected to last about seven days, before night settled over the moon’s south pole.

Odysseus is the probe that landed the furthest south on the moon. The Apollo missions landed near the equator. But NASA wants to explore the moon’s south pole before sending its astronauts there as part of its Artemis mission. That’s why it has contracted with companies including Intuitive Machines to transport scientific equipment there. on tuesday, “Odysseus Effectively Disseminated Scientific Information” From its cargo, intuitive machines revealed. The company also released a new photo taken by the probe about 30 meters above the ground before its lunar landing.

The Japanese SLIM probe landed on the moon in late January, also side by side. Japan’s space agency JAXA announced on Monday that it has revived after surviving a harsh two-week lunar night.