IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus lander

It landed sideways.

Odysseus, the Nova-C lander built by Intuitive Machines, had launched on 15 February 2024 atop a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A — the second NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission. A week later, on 22 February, it touched down near the lunar south pole, the first American spacecraft on the Moon since Apollo 17 set down in the Taurus-Littrow valley on 11 December 1972 — a gap of more than 51 years.

A laser rangefinder system had failed to initialize before descent. The lander arrived faster than planned on a 12-degree slope, caught a foot on the surface, snapped one of its six legs, and came to rest tilted roughly 30 degrees. Some antennas pointed toward the ground; the data return rate fell below planned levels. The five science payloads — LRA, NDL, LN-1, SCALPSS, and ROLSES — remained operational. NASA and Intuitive Machines declared the mission a success.