After a shaky moon landing last year, intuitive machines is working to determine if this mission will meet a similar fate.
Intuitive Machine's Athena Lander 33 Feet (10 Meters) Above The Lunar Surface as it descended March 6. Credit: Credit: Intuitive Machines
After a successful launch last week aboard a spacex Falcon 9 Rockt, Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Mission Landed on the Mon on March 6 Shortly after 11:30 AM Est. The craft is transmitting back to its control center and alle to collect some level of solar power. However, its landing orientation and the status of other aspects of the mission remain untilar.
The lander, nicknamed atena, was meant to touch on the plateau atop the mountain mons mountains mouton rooughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the lunar south pole. As the craft nered the end of its 11-minute engine burn to slow its velocity and carry it to the surface, flight controllers lost contact with athna, although presenters on the company ' Said That Communication Issues Close to the Surface Were Expected.
As time went on, however, Mission Controllers Became Visibly Anxious and Turned their focus to retrieving images from the craft. Ten Minutes after the lander was supposed to be on the ground, flight controllers commanded atena to turn off its engine and shut down some of it of its Electronics to CONSERVE POWER. Intuitive Machine Executive and the Mission's Flight Director Tim Crain Said That The Lander was Collecting Power and that TEAM was WORKING to Determine the orientation of the lander.
This is not intuitive machine's first brush with uncertainty after a lunar landing. On Feb. 22, 2024, The House-Based Company's First Lunar Mission, IM-1, Touched Down Harder Than Expected On The Moon Near Malapert a Clarior, 186 Miles (300 km) from the South Pole. A pre-launch wiring error on the lander, Known as Odysseus, Disabled Its Built-in Laser Rangefinders. As a result, the craft had to fly its landing without The scientific payloads aboard was almost to collect some data, but beCause of the lander's angle, some ware starved of solar power and shut off earlier than anticipated.
More information on the im-2 mission is expected through the day, and intuitive machines is scheduled to hold a press conference in the afternoon.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
