Science News Roundup: Moon lander Odysseus tipped sideways on lunar surface but 'alive and well'; Stratolaunch conducts 'captive carry' test flight of hypersonic vehicle

Houston-based Intuitive Machines also revealed that human error led to a failure of the spacecraft's laser-based range finders, how engineers detected the glitch by chance hours before landing time, and how they improvised an emergency fix that saved the mission from a probable crash. Stratolaunch conducts 'captive carry' test flight of hypersonic vehicle Private U.S. company Stratolaunch conducted its second "captive carry" test flight of what it hopes will become a reusable hypersonic vehicle, it said on Saturday, as the Pentagon presses ahead with development of new hypersonic weapons.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Moon lander Odysseus tipped sideways on lunar surface but 'alive and well'

The moon lander dubbed Odysseus is "alive and well" but resting on its side a day after its white-knuckle touchdown as the first private spacecraft ever to reach the lunar surface, and the first from the U.S. since 1972, the company behind the vehicle said on Friday. Houston-based Intuitive Machines also revealed that human error led to a failure of the spacecraft's laser-based range finders, how engineers detected the glitch by chance hours before landing time, and how they improvised an emergency fix that saved the mission from a probable crash.

Stratolaunch conducts 'captive carry' test flight of hypersonic vehicle

Private U.S. company Stratolaunch conducted its second "captive carry" test flight of what it hopes will become a reusable hypersonic vehicle, it said on Saturday, as the Pentagon presses ahead with development of new hypersonic weapons. The Stratolaunch Talon-A was loaded with live propellant and carried aloft by the Spirit of Mojave, a modified Boeing 747-400 with dual fuselages, on a more than four-hour flight going over the Pacific Ocean.

(With inputs from agencies.)