Intuitive Machines' Second Moon Landing Attempt Ends in Failure, NASA Shares Image of Sideways Lander

Nasa recently released a striking photo of the Athena moon lander, which shows the view of Earth peeking between its upturned legs. Unfortunately, this second moon landing attempt by the Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines, has met the same fate as its first mission — ending with the lander tipping over sideways in a lunar crater and becoming non-operational shortly after touchdown.

NASA, which is partnering with Intuitive Machines to deliver scientific equipment to the Moon as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, reported that the Athena lander suspended its operations prematurely on Friday, March 7. This happened just 12 hours after the landing, when the craft's batteries ran out.

In the brief time it was operational, the lander managed to transmit approximately 250 megabytes of data back to NASA. Among this data was a poignant image of the spacecraft's legs sticking up, with a half-illuminated Earth floating in the background.

This mission, referred to as IM-2, faced challenges as the Athena lander officially landed on the Moon’s near side at 12:30 p.m. EST on March 6, but it was found more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) away from the planned landing area near the Moon's south pole.

"While we're disappointed in the outcome of the IM-2 mission, we remain committed to supporting our commercial vendors as they navigate the very difficult task of landing and operating on the Moon," stated Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

The Context and Outlook for Private Moon Landings

This was the second lunar landing attempt for Intuitive Machines within two years. The company's first successful landing occurred on February 22, 2024, when the Odysseus spacecraft touched down, marking the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.

However, during that first landing, problems arose when the Odysseus lander's landing lasers malfunctioned. This issue resulted in the spacecraft losing the necessary guidance to determine landing distances. In the end, one of the lander's legs broke upon contact with the lunar surface, causing it to tip over and restricting some of its functionalities. Power was lost completely just one week later, before the freezing lunar night began.

Despite these setbacks, NASA plans to continue its collaboration with Intuitive Machines, with two more lunar delivery missions scheduled: IM-3 is set for 2026 and IM-4 for 2027.

The recent failure comes shortly after a successful landing by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander, which completed its mission on March 2, successfully standing upright and sending back stunning images of the lunar surface.

NASA, IntuitiveMachines, moon