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Moon lander that fell over is incredibly difficult to spot in newly released picture

Home> News> Science

Published 16:44 28 Feb 2024 GMT

Moon lander that fell over is incredibly difficult to spot in newly released picture

Can you spot it?

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

A newly released photo of moon lander Nova-C Odysseus on the lunar surface has caused some chatter among the public after people struggle to spot it in the snap.

The moon lander touched down on 22 February following a seven-day journey to lunar orbit, becoming the first-ever privately owned space craft to land on the Moon.

Launched into space using a SpaceX rocket, Odysseus features NASA technology and has been designed by Intuitive Machines.

Unfortunately, just five days after touching down, it has tripped over itself and fallen on its side.

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And unlike here on Earth, it can't just get someone to go over and pick it up.

It has sadly been doomed to slowly run out of power and die a slow death.

Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images

Odysseus' impending death is due to the mispositioned solar panels that are not in a good enough position to capture light from the Sun to power itself.

But a photo captured by NASA Spacecraft LRO has shown exactly where the spacecraft is on the Moon, lying sideways.

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See if you can spot it below, it's almost impossible - the answer is further down but don't cheat!

Can you see it?
LROC

It should be noted that during this unfortunate turn of events, control engineers expect to lose contact with Odysseus, with the mission cut short just a handful of days after reaching its destination.

The Houston-based company posted on Monday: “Flight controllers intend to collect data until the lander’s solar panels are no longer exposed to light.

"Based on Earth and Moon positioning, we believe flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning."

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

Executives at the company think the sideways result of the lander was because the forward speed during landing was twice as fast as anticipated.

Anyway, back to our own version of Where's Wally.

If you didn't manage to spot it, you can see the location below.

See, it was a piece of cake (not).

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LROC

Odysseus' original mission was to operate on the surface of the natural satellite for two weeks, equivalent to one lunar night.

So among the rubble, craters and shadows, the sideways-turned spacecraft has been made almost impossible to spot as it slowly makes its way to its inevitable doom.

Farewell, our short-lived space exploring friend.

Featured Image Credit: LROC

Topics: Space, Science, Technology

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

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@joshnair10

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