Athena lander 'on her side' on moon's surface, ending mission in similar fashion to first launch
Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, said the company may hold off on its third lunar landing mission, which is scheduled for next year.
Intuitive Machines' most recent lunar lander has suffered the same fate as the exploration company's initial one. The six-legged Athena spacecraft is now "on her side" atop the moon's surface, subsequently ending a week-long mission.
The announcement from the Houston-headquartered company came on Friday and said that Athena landed 250 meters from its intended landing site in the Mons Mouton region of the lunar south pole, inside of a crater. Athena, which is on a $62.5 million mission for NASA known as IM-2, launched on Feb. 26.
The company said it received images transported from Athena on the lunar surface showing the lander on its side. The IM-2 mission lunar spacecraft, which was carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, did accomplish the southernmost lunar landing and surface operations ever achieved, according to the company.
Once Athena landed, mission controllers accelerated several program and payload milestones, including NASA's PRIME-1 suite, before the lander's batteries drained. It is unclear if NASA's PRIME-1, a suite of two instruments that help scientists better understand the moon's resources, was deployed before the mission ended.
"With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge," the company said. "The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."
The southern pole region of the moon has harsh sun angles and limited direct communication with the Earth, the company said. This area used to be avoided due to its rugged terrain, but Intuitive Machines said it "believes the insights and achievements from IM-2 will open this region for further space exploration."
Paste BN reached out to NASA on Friday but has not received a response.
What happened to Intuitive Machines' previous lunar lander?
Intuitive Machines' original lunar lander, Odysseus, also toppled onto its side after coming in hot and fast during a moon landing in February of last year. Odysseus' faulty laser altimeter, used to determine its distance from the ground, broke a lander leg and caused the spacecraft to topple over.
The spacecraft's position obstructed some of its antennas from pointing toward the Earth, while its solar panels were not in an ideal position to generate energy from the overhead sun, the company said a year ago. Flight controllers got as much data as they could before Odysseus went silent.
Despite being sideways, Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, said Odysseus still beamed back valuable intel for a couple of more hours.
"The IM-1 Mission successfully landed the first spacecraft on the Moon's south pole region, marking the United States' first return since Apollo 17 and the first commercial lunar lander to transmit valuable science data of each NASA payload from the lunar surface," Intuitive Machines said on X in February 2024.
What is next for Intuitive Machines?
Intuitive Machines may hold off on its third lunar landing mission, scheduled for next year, to wait for the deployment of a company communications satellite, Altemus said during a news conference on Wednesday.
The next launch could have a more successful outcome as Altemus described what may have gone wrong, including power generation issues and "challenges" with the lander's laser rangefinders, which are used to measure exact distances.
"The future is bright for Intuitive Machines to land lots and lots of cargo on the moon," Intuitive Machines' Chief Technology Officer Tim Crain said during the news conference.