--- title: "NASA’s Privately-Launched Moon Lander Permanently Dead After Failing to Wake Up" description: "It's official, folks: Intuitive Machines' privately-launched Moon lander, Odysseus, has been pronounced dead." date: "2024-03-27" modified: "2024-03-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-odysseus-moon-lander-dead" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "intuitive machines" - "moon" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA’s Privately-Launched Moon Lander Permanently Dead After Failing to Wake Up ![It's official, folks: Intuitive Machines' privately-launched Moon lander, Odysseus, has been pronounced dead.]() *\Image: Intuitive Machines / NASA\* ## Rest in Peace It's official, folks: the privately-launched Moon lander is dead. Intuitive Machines, the company that launched the "Odysseus" lander with funding from NASA, has announced in a series of [posts on X-formerly-Twitter]() that the historic first landing of a commercial craft on the lunar surface has failed to wake back up after a chaotic landing. Launched back in February, the lander affectionately referred to as "Odie" tripped on a rock and [fell over]() as it made Moonfall. And although the Houston-based company has made extensive efforts to spin it differently, it was essentially dead on arrival. As Intuitive Machines explained in its [more recent X thread](), Odysseus "was not intended to survive the harsh temperatures of the lunar night," although its programmers hoped it may be able to "call home if various systems outperformed manufacturer expectations." "Intuitive Machines started listening for Odie’s wake-up signal on March 20," the [thread continues](), "when we projected enough sunlight would potentially charge the lander's power system and turn on its radio." As the company now admits, however, waiting up for that call was for naught. "Flight controllers decided their projections were correct, and Odie’s power system would not complete another call home," [Intuitive Machines posted](). "This confirms that Odie has permanently faded after cementing its legacy into history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon." ## Lunar Optimism Despite its hopes to the contrary, Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission has, as we've seen since Odysseus was launched, been marred by what seems in hindsight to be some pretty glaring design issues. The lander was very [tall and top-heavy](), which made it struggle to stay upright once it reached the obstacles of the lunar terrain. As [photos from its landing]() reveal, Odysseus did indeed take a ton of damage once it "gently tipped over," as Intuitive's CEO Steve Altemus [told reporters last month](). https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1762919220528951489 Still, as the company and [NASA]() have [repeatedly]() [insisted](), the mission wasn't a complete failure. And it did manage to send back some important data about what went wrong in the process, too. "The IM-1 mission achieved a historic landing farther south on the Moon than any vehicle ever has, laying the groundwork for our second mission," reads a [subsequent X post]() from Intuitive Machines. "IM-2 targets the Moon’s south pole at the Shackleton Connecting Ridge to search for water ice that future missions could potentially process for propulsion and life support." Given the precedent that SpaceX has set when it comes to repeated slips and fumbles, Intuitive Machines' lander launch is being taken as a win — and who are we, as mere Earthlings, to judge success on the Moon? **More on NASA:** [*Astronomers Furious at Plan to Shut Down NASA Space Telescope*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()