New York, March 8: The mission of US company Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander Athena has come to an early end because the lander tipped over while touching down on the Moon, and its battery quickly drained, the company said.
According to NASA, the uncrewed lander landed at a region near the Moon’s South Pole at about 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday, more than 400 meters from its intended landing site, Xinhua news agency reported. The mission, codenamed IM-2, landed closer to the lunar South Pole than any previous lander, said NASA. Sunita Williams Return To Earth Landing Date Confirmed: NASA Reveals When ‘Stuck-in-Space’ Indian-Origin Astronaut Will Come Back on Earth With Barry Wilmore.
Intuitive Machines Athena Lander Collects Data After Landing in Crater Near Lunar South Pole and Called an Early End of Mission
Our lunar delivery initiative is high risk–with the potential for high reward.
Shortly after landing in a crater near the lunar South Pole, @Int_Machines’ Athena lander collected data and called an early end of mission at 1:15am ET (0615 UTC) March 7. https://t.co/32Vm7LewF1 pic.twitter.com/BOTTPHZ4ea
— NASA (@NASA) March 7, 2025
Intuitive Machines Executes Southernmost Lunar Landing and Operates Payloads
Intuitive Machines Executes Southernmost Lunar Landing and Operates Payloads.
The full release is published on the IM-2 mission webpage. https://t.co/6W5wibbV71
(7MAR2025 0829 CST)#AdLunam #IM2 #Athena pic.twitter.com/xDM3Fd9rE7
— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) March 7, 2025
Intuitive Machines said images collected later confirmed the lander was on its side, preventing it from fully operating NASA’s lunar drill and other instruments before its batteries were depleted. Among the data collected by the lander, NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1) suite, which includes the lunar drill known as TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain), successfully demonstrated the hardware’s full range of motion in the harsh environment of space, NASA said.
With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Athena was not able to recharge, according to Intuitive Machines. The company said the mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission. The southern pole region on the Moon where Athena landed is lit by harsh sun angles and limited direct communication with the Earth. This area has been avoided due to its rugged terrain.
Intuitive Machines said it believes the insights and achievements from Athena’s mission will open this region for further space exploration. “While this mission didn’t achieve all of its objectives for NASA, the work that went into the payload development is already informing other agency and commercial efforts,” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator for space technology, NASA Headquarters.
Intuitive Machines is one of the leading service providers in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, part of the agency’s lunar exploration efforts. Under the initiative, NASA is working with multiple American companies to send NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon. Daylight Saving Time 2025 Date and Meaning: Why Will Clocks Spring Forward on March 9? Here’s What You Should Know About DST.
Last year, Intuitive Machines made history when its first lunar lander, Odysseus, made a soft touchdown on the lunar surface. It marked the first American spacecraft to land on the lunar surface in more than 50 years. However, Odysseus also tripped over its own feet during its final descent on the Moon, and its mission ended earlier than expected. Intuitive Machines has two more deliveries for NASA in the future, with its IM-3 mission slated for 2026, and IM-4 mission for 2027.
(The above story first appeared on Reporter Door on Mar 08, 2025 01:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).