US’ Odysseus snaps leg while ‘soft landing’ on the Moon

The Moon landing of America’s Odysseus robot was not free of incident. Newly released photos of the module show that the left leg support pole was snapped, likely taking the blow while landing.

The first ever private vessel to make a soft landing on the lunar surface continues to send back data. Despite it standing with a limp, NASA tagged Odysseus’ journey to the Moon as a success. 

“We are in the sixth day of what was planned as an eight-day mission, and we're still receiving data from those instruments,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said, as per BBC. The Odysseus is currently thought to be leaning at a 30-degree angle on its helium pressure tanks.

The lunar robot has already sent more than 350 megabits of data downloaded ready for analysis. Aerospace company Intuitive Machines said the descent, landing and navigation data will help improve landing in the future.

BBC reported that Odysseus was originally supposed to make a vertical descent, nearing the lunar surface at 1 meter per second. It came down three times its intended speed.

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