After hours of uncertainty, officials from the Houston company said there are clues that the spacecraft is on its side, which could limit the mission’s scientific accomplishments.

The Athena lander, built by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines, descended to the lunar surface but the orientation of the lander is currently unknown.

Despite some connection delays postlanding, the lunar lander Athena is officially set to study what lies beneath the moon’s surface over the next 10 days

Less than a day after Intuitive Machines landed on the Moon, the company declared an early end to its mission after its Athena spacecraft would up lying sideways on the lunar surface.

Intuitive Machines said on Thursday that its robotic Athena lander has landed on the moon's surface but details of the spacecraft's status and health remained unclear, a tense moment in the company's second such attempt.

Based on a reading from an inertial measurement unit inside the vehicle, most likely Athena is lying on its side. This is the same fate Odysseus met last year, when it skidded into the Moon, broke a leg, and toppled over.

Intuitive Machines' Athena lunar lander is dead, just one day after it touched down at the moon's south pole and tipped over. Luckily, the company says it

Shares of Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) are falling on Monday. The company's stock plunged 23.3% as of 1:20 p.m. ET today and was down as much as 23.7% earlier in the day. The steep decline comes amid broader market weakness,

Intuitive Machines' lunar mission failed, causing a 73% stock decline from the highs, and raising concerns about their designs. Explore more details here.