Intuitive Machines Lunar Lander Lands on its Side

The Athena lander, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, successfully touched down near the moon's south pole on Thursday, but telemetry suggests that it may have landed on its side. Officials stated that the lander is operational, referred to as "alive"; however, it's still uncertain which mission objectives can be accomplished moving forward.

Intuitive Machines’ CEO Steve Altemus mentioned, “We don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude (orientation) on the surface of the moon yet again. I don’t have all the data yet to say exactly what the attitude of the vehicle is.”

Altemus stated that they are currently collecting images from the lander and are expecting to receive data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which will help confirm the lander’s condition in the coming days.

This landing occurred a year after the company's first lunar lander, named Odysseus, landed in a similar fashion, eventually tipping over after a landing leg broke. Following that incident, Intuitive Machines’ stock price dropped by 20%. The current lander, known as Athena (IM-2), was launched eight days earlier aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Athena was not alone during this mission, as it shared its ride with three other spacecraft: a moon-bound NASA orbiter, a commercial deep space asteroid prospecting probe, and a space tug for Earth orbit operations. Unfortunately, NASA lost contact with its Lunar Trailblazer satellite shortly after launch, while the AstroForge faced issues with its Odin prospector probe. Authorities suspect these payloads might be lost.

The Athena lander is equipped with advanced instruments, two small rovers, experimental cellular communications technology, and a rocket-powered "hopper" for exploring regions near the lander. It reportedly landed approximately 100 miles from the moon's south pole around 12:30 p.m. EST, although specific details regarding the landing time and location were unclear as the flight controllers tried to interpret the telemetry signals.

Eventually, officials confirmed the lander’s main engine had shut down, solar panels were producing power, and it was maintaining communication with company controllers. Altemus noted that the most reliable information came from the lander’s inertial measurement unit (IMU), which indicated that Athena is resting on its side. "We think that’s the case," he said, adding that they would like to secure imagery to determine the exact orientation of the devices on the lander.

Altemus expressed optimism about possibly deploying the hopper and the rovers, contingent on understanding the lander’s orientation. However, time is critical as Athena, being solar-powered, can only function for about 10 days before the lunar night sets in, casting darkness over the landing site.

Once a full assessment is made, the team plans to collaborate with NASA’s science and technology divisions to prioritize which scientific objectives are most important, determining a mission profile tailored to the circumstances, as some expected power and communication capabilities may not materialize.

Athena began its descent into lunar orbit after launching five days prior from the Kennedy Space Center. On Thursday, while passing the far side of the moon, the main engine fired to reduce its altitude from 62 miles to approximately 6 miles above the surface.

During the descent, the lander likely utilized its cameras and laser technology to accurately monitor its altitude and velocity, ensuring a stable approach to its chosen landing site.

As the spacecraft descended towards the surface at an intended speed of 2.2 mph, it autonomously made last-minute adjustments to locate a safer landing area, though specifics on the final descent remains unclear.

NASA is specifically targeting the south polar region of the moon for future astronaut landings primarily because satellites have spotted potential ice deposits in craters that are perpetually hidden from sunlight, making them some of the coldest locations in the solar system.

Where water molecules may have accumulated over billions of years, impacted by comet collisions and interactions between lunar dust and solar winds, Athena’s design included a "Grace" hopper. This hopper is intended to jump into a dark crater roughly a quarter-mile from the lander to gather critical measurements, transmitting data back using 4G/LTE technology that Nokia provided.

Additional onboard instruments are designed to search for chemical signatures of water and other materials, measure soil temperature and composition, and the two small rovers are meant to explore the landing zone and assess innovative mobility systems.

Athena is the second of three planned lunar landers set to reach the moon this year. The first was a lander by Firefly Aerospace, based in Austin, which successfully landed on the moon just days earlier on Sunday. Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander carries ten NASA-sponsored instruments designed to gather essential data for the Artemis program.

NASA has invested $101 million into helping Firefly deliver science instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface, alongside an additional $44 million for the instruments themselves.

Similarly, Athena’s instruments and demonstrations were funded by NASA, who paid $62.5 million for a potent drill and mass spectrometer collectively termed Prime-1, as well as $15 million for Nokia’s integration of cellular communication systems. Moreover, $41 million financed the Grace hopper’s development.

Another $89 million went towards the launch of a lunar satellite created by Lockheed Martin, which accompanied Athena on the Falcon 9 rocket. Unfortunately, this Lunar Trailblazer satellite lost contact shortly after its launch and has yet to reestablish communication.

Both Athena and Blue Ghost were largely funded through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to incentivize private firms to relay agency payloads to the moon in preparation for the upcoming Artemis astronaut missions scheduled for later this decade.

At the same time, a Japanese lander known as Resilience was launched in January alongside Firefly’s Blue Ghost, but it will not arrive at the moon until early June, taking a longer, low-energy route.

NASA, moon, lander, technology, space