Exciting Live Updates on Intuitive Machines’ Historic Moon Landing!

NASA is once again funding a mission headed by Intuitive Machines, a company based in Houston, as it prepares to return to the moon.

This Thursday, Intuitive Machines will try to land its new spacecraft, named Athena, on the lunar surface. Standing at 15 feet tall, Athena is very similar to their previous lander, Odysseus. Last year, Odysseus successfully reached the moon but unfortunately tipped over shortly after landing.

This time, the hope is that Athena will land smoothly and stay upright while deploying various payloads for NASA and other commercial partners.

Here’s what you should know about Athena’s upcoming moon landing attempt:

• Athena’s journey to the moon will begin soon, with a planned landing at 12:32 p.m. Eastern Time. NASA will stream the event live starting at 11:30 a.m. You can catch it on NASA’s website.
• The landing site, called Mons Mouton, is a flat-topped mountain situated about 100 miles from the moon’s south pole. This location will mark a new record for how close any spacecraft has landed to that region.
• Intuitive Machines isn’t the only company making headlines this week; Firefly Aerospace, also from Texas, successfully landed their spacecraft in the Mare Crisium area just a few days ago.
• NASA is the primary customer for both companies’ missions through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which hires private firms to deliver scientific and technological instruments to the moon.
• Athena carries a special drill designed for NASA. This equipment will collect lunar soil samples to analyze for frozen water and other substances.
• In addition to the drill, Athena has a small dog-sized rover that will test a Nokia cellphone network on the moon. It also carries two smaller rovers, one created by MIT and the other by a Japanese company. Additionally, Intuitive Machines plans to test a rocket-powered vehicle called a hopper, which is aimed at exploring hard-to-reach areas.

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Moon,Intuitive Machines LLC,Space and Astronomy,National Aeronautics and Space Administration,Private Spaceflight,Rocket Science and Propulsion