Intuitive Machines, the company that built and flew the spacecraft, said it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels, expected to happen Tuesday morning.
If successful, the uncrewed spacecraft would be the first U.S. lunar landing in more than 50 years, and would mean one giant leap for the commercial space sector.
An unmanned lunar spacecraft has captured and transmitted data analyzing lunar rocks, an achievement that could help provide clues about the origin of the moon, a Japan space agency official said
A Japanese space agency manager calls it "a breathless, numbing 20 minutes of terror!" The process includes ejecting a robot onto the lunar surface, to take photos of the moon lander.
The mission was to be the first time an American company sent a spacecraft to the moon — and the first time the U.S. returned to the lunar surface in more than 50 years.