Flight control engineers expect to lose contact with the private U.S. moon lander Odysseus on Tuesday, cutting the mission short five days after its sideways touchdown, the company behind the spacecraft, Intuitive Machines, has said.
It remained to be seen how much scientific data might be lost as a result of the shortened life of Odysseus, which according to previous estimates from the company and its biggest customer, NASA, would have otherwise operated on the moon for seven to 10 days.
The company's forecast for a premature end to the mission came as new details emerged about testing shortcuts and human error that led to an in-flight failure of the spacecraft's laser-guided range finders ahead of its landing last Thursday.