Intuitive machine: Lunar lander photographed sideways with broken legs

The first clear image of the robot Odysseus on the moon has been released.

It includes the sight of an American military envoy lying with a broken leg upon touchdown.

However, the spacecraft continued to work, sending back data about the lunar environment.

The Odysseus made history last Thursday by becoming the first civilian vehicle to successfully make a soft landing on the moon.

And despite the clumsy direction it ultimately took, the robot should be celebrated, said U.S. Space Agency Administrator Bill Nelson.

NASA had a contract with Houston-based operator Intuitive Machines to carry six scientific instruments aboard the lander.

“Odysseus is a success,” the agency chief told reporters. “We’re on day six of an eight-day mission and we’re still receiving data from these instruments.”

Engineers expect the robot to go into hibernation by Friday at the latest. As the sun disappears behind the horizon, the Antarctic landing site will soon be plunged into darkness, preventing the spacecraft’s solar cells from recharging its batteries.

However, when the “lunar day” returns two Earth weeks later, efforts will be made to revive Odysseus.

Intuitive Machines’ mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which pays various private U.S. companies for cargo services to the Moon.

NASA sees the CLPS approach as both a more economical way to conduct science and planting the seeds for what it hopes will become a thriving lunar economy.

Intuitive Machines has two more missions planned for 2024. In the next mission, the robot will drill into the earth’s surface.

“We’ve kicked open the door to a strong and prosperous cislunar economy in the future, and that’s compelling,” said Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines.

“I think this CLPS experiment, this first landing, the first (U.S.) success on the moon in 52 years, are really points in history that should be celebrated.”