- Russia tries playwright and director on terror charges
- Iran mourns president Raisi's death in helicopter crash
- Attack on tourists rocks fledgling Afghanistan tourism sector
- Paralympics should put disability back on global agenda, says IPC chief
- South Africa's top court strikes Zuma from ballot
- Crunch time looms for BHP's bid buy Anglo American
- Kane to face old club Spurs for first time in Seoul
- Markets rise as traders cheered by China property plan
- Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production
- Iran's President Raisi declared dead in helicopter crash
- Australia police arrest 554 in domestic violence crackdown
- South Korea, Britain host AI summit with safety top of agenda
- New president Lai vows to defend Taiwan's democracy
- Forever fad: Rubik says his cube 'reminds us why we have hands'
- Trump eyes witness stand as trial draws to a close
- Ryanair annual profit jumps on higher demand, fares
- High-priced Cummins, Starc face off as IPL enters playoffs
- Iran media says President Raisi died in helicopter crash
- Dominican Republic President Abinader re-elected to 2nd term
- New Taiwan president Lai hails 'glorious' democracy
- New Caledonia separatists defy French efforts to unblock roads
- Timberwolves knock out defending champion Nuggets, Pacers oust Knicks
- Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Iran President Raisi's helicopter found, 'no sign of life'
- Three talking points ahead of 2024 French Open
- 'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Japan Olympic volleyball manga mania
- Timberwolves rally to knock defending champion Nuggets out of NBA playoffs
- London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- Business and Bollywood votes in India election
- Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'
- Mexico aims to be big economic winner from US-China tensions
- Uncertain future for thousands after deadly Brazil floods
- Schauffele makes the putt of his life for first major win
- Wirtz returns to help unbeaten Leverkusen chase history
- Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing
- DeChambeau's powerful putting has him excited for US Open
- Taiwan to swear in new president as China pressure grows
- Atalanta can end 61-year wait for trophy in Europa League final
- Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
- Guardiola casts doubt over long-term Man City future
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
- Pacers shoot down Knicks to reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- Schauffele birdies final hole, captures first major at PGA Championship
- McLaughlin powers to Indy 500 pole in all-Penske front row
- Monaco footballer tapes over LGBTQ badge
- Korda wins sixth LPGA title of year with win at Liberty National
- Pacers put on shooting show to down Knicks, reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- US envoy touts 'potential' of Israel-Saudi deal in Netanyahu talks
- Dominicans vote for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- Brest secure Champions League qualification, PSG win without Mbappe
Sideways American lander sends first images back from Moon
An American lunar lander that tipped over during touchdown has sent back its first images from the farthest south any vessel has ever landed on the Moon.
The uncrewed Odysseus, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, returned the United States to Earth's cosmic neighbor last week after a five-decade absence, in a first for the private sector.
But one of its legs caught on the surface as it came down, making it pitch over in the final act of a drama-packed journey that was saved by an improvised fix.
"Odysseus continues to communicate with flight controllers in Nova Control from the lunar surface," Intuitive Machines said Monday in an update on X, formerly Twitter.
The post included two pictures: one from the hexagon-shaped spaceship's descent, and the other taken 35 seconds after it fell over, revealing the pockmarked regolith of the Malapert A impact crater.
NASA is planning to return astronauts to the Moon later this decade, and paid Intuitive Machines around $120 million for the mission, as part of a new initiative to delegate cargo missions to the private sector and stimulate a "lunar economy."
Odysseus carries a suite of NASA instruments designed to improve scientific understanding of the lunar south pole, where the space agency plans to send astronauts under its Artemis program.
Unlike during Apollo, the plan is to build long-term habitats, harvesting polar ice for drinking water and for rocket fuel for onward missions to Mars.
- 'Success with minor footnotes' -
Astronomer and space missions expert Jonathan McDowell told AFP the fact Odysseus was lying on its side didn't overly concern him.
It's a "success with minor footnotes -- I'd give it an A minus," he said, adding that one would "prefer it to be upright, and they've certainly got some things to figure out for future missions," but overall things are moving in the right direction for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
On Friday, Intuitive Machines revealed its engineers had forgotten to toggle a safety switch that prevented the spaceship's laser-guided landing system from engaging, which forced them to upload a software patch and rely on an experimental NASA system that saved the day.
"Rocket science is hard not because any one thing is super hard, but because you have to do a million easy things all right," said McDowell of the "embarrassing" oversight.
Flight controllers will continue to download data until the lander's solar panels are no longer exposed to light, which is now estimated to be Tuesday morning, said Intuitive Machines.
It is a slightly shorter mission duration than initially planned as a result of the spacecraft's awkward orientation.
Japan's space agency also landed a spaceship wonkily on the Moon last month, but produced a surprise on Monday by waking up its SLIM lander following the lunar night, which lasts around two Earth weeks.
McDowell said the two falls might indicate the current generation of landers are too top heavy and consequently too easy to tip over in low gravity, unlike the short, squat landers built by the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War.
W.Lapointe--BTB