CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A lunar lander named Athena, developed by Intuitive Machines, landed on the moon but quickly encountered problems. It’s unclear whether the lander is standing upright or lying on its side near the moon’s south pole.
Following its touchdown, Intuitive Machines faced unexpected challenges. Controllers hastily powered down some of the equipment on board to conserve energy while they assessed the lander’s condition. This marked the second moon landing attempt by a Texas company within the week; earlier in the week, another company successfully landed its lunar lander.
The Athena lander had a clean descent from lunar orbit. However, during its final approach, a glitch in its laser navigation system made things tricky. After some anxious moments, Mission Control confirmed that Athena had landed. “We’re on the surface,” mission director Tim Crain announced. A short time later, he added, “We are working to evaluate exactly what our orientation is on the surface.”
Hours later, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus mentioned conflicting information was coming in about Athena’s landing position. While it was in the general area they aimed for, a NASA satellite will help confirm its exact location and orientation in the coming days.
Launched just a week earlier, Athena was over 230,000 miles away from Earth and making solar power when controllers worked to recover the mission. They hoped to use its drill and drone to conduct science experiments, but uncertainty about its position made planning difficult. NASA’s science officer, Nicky Fox, commented, “Without knowing the exact orientation of the lander, it’s hard to say what science we will and will not be able to do.”
Last year, Intuitive Machines faced similar issues when their first lander tipped over on the moon. However, this week’s lunar missions are part of NASA’s broader goal to usher in a new era of exploration through the commercial lunar delivery program. These commercial missions aim to bring scientific payloads to the moon’s surface, setting the stage for future crewed missions through the Artemis program.
NASA had invested significant funds into Athena; they were particularly eager to test instruments onboard designed to drill for ice and conduct experiments near the lunar south pole. Cost-effective strategies were employed, including sharing a SpaceX launch with other lunar and asteroid missions. Unfortunately, two companion missions from NASA and AstroForge are currently facing challenges, including loss of communication.
Until this recent landing, the United States hadn’t successfully reached the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Only a handful of nations, including Russia, China, India, and Japan, have achieved successful lunar landings. With these back-to-back missions, the future of lunar exploration looks promising—but there are still hurdles to overcome for the teams involved.
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