The second lunar lander by Intuitive Machines has made its way to the Moon, however not with out incident. The Athena automobile will not be upright, which is what occurred to the corporate’s Odysseus lander upon touchdown again in February. CEO Steve Altemus mentioned during the post-landing news conference that he doesn’t imagine that Athena is “within the appropriate perspective on the floor of the Moon but once more.”
Altemus mentioned that the corporate will know for certain within the coming days as soon as the crew will get “an image from the lunar reconnaissance orbital digicam from above.” Knowledge from the lander’s inertial measurement unit does appear to point a sideways orientation. We do know that Athena has touched down roughly 100 miles from the lunar south pole, which is the place it's imagined to be.
Athena is a part of the company’s IM-2 mission, which is a partnership with NASA to (lastly) deliver crewed missions again to the Moon. The lander additionally carries a bevy of payloads and scientific devices designed to search for proof of water on the lunar floor.
The corporate’s earlier lander Odysseus was the primary privately owned spacecraft to achieve the Moon’s floor, although it toppled over. Rival firm Firefly Aerospace efficiently landed its personal Blue Ghost spacecraft onto the lunar floor earlier this week, and this one landed upright.
As for Athena, it’s at present charging on the floor and is speaking with the mission crew right here on Earth. Nevertheless, efficiency appears to be sub-optimal. “We’re not getting every part that we had requested for when it comes to energy technology and communications,” Altemus mentioned. This might influence the lifespan of the lander’s ten-day mission, although the corporate has “achieved some energy conservation steps as prudent measures to see how lengthy and what goals we will accomplish within the mission going ahead.”
The New York Times has now confirmed that the battery is useless and gained't recharge, which implies the numerous payloads and devices are rendered unusable. These included a drill that searches for ice and a hopping drone automobile that the corporate has scheduled to discover a completely shadowed crater.
Replace, March 6, 2025, 2:25PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate new reporting relating to the operational standing of Athena.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/house/intuitive-machines-second-moon-mission-seems-to-have-gone-as-well-as-the-first-162637189.html?src=rss
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