Odysseus craft’s moon mission to be cut short after sideways landing

Intuitive Machines, private company behind lander, says mission will end after five days rather than the expected seven to 10

Flight control engineers expect to lose contact with the private US moon lander Odysseus on Tuesday, cutting short the mission five days after its sideways touchdown, the company behind the spacecraft, Intuitive Machines, 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.