The Athena lander, developed by Intuitive Machines, has landed on the Moon with the goal of searching for water, but it does not appear to be standing upright on the surface, according to the company.
The spacecraft successfully navigated a risky descent, slowing from over 4,000 mph to land on Mons Mouton, roughly 100 miles from the lunar south pole. However, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus expressed concerns during a news conference, stating, “We don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude on the surface of the Moon, yet again.”
This follows a previous incident last year when another Intuitive Machines spacecraft toppled during landing after encountering a rock. Although that craft responded to commands from mission control, it failed to capture and transmit images as expected.
The company’s stock experienced a decline as engineers worked to establish full communication with the lander. The lunar south pole region is a key destination for NASA astronauts set to land there in two years.
Athena’s challenging descent on rugged terrain, coupled with intermittent communication with ground stations, highlights the risks ahead for upcoming missions. If Athena can activate its systems and operate normally, it is expected to deploy the first privately built robotic rover to the Moon’s surface.
The rover will create a 3D map of the terrain and test the first high-speed mobile communications network on the lunar surface.
The primary objective of the mission is to locate water. Athena is equipped with a drill designed to extract samples from a meter below the Moon’s surface, and it will release a small “hopper” to bounce into a permanently shadowed deep crater that may contain ice.
Professor Katherine Joy, a planetary geologist at the University of Manchester and advisor to NASA’s Artemis mission, noted that orbiting spacecraft have detected signs of water in these craters but emphasized the importance of confirming it on-site.
She remarked, “These craters are incredibly cold, dropping to around -230C (-382F). Ice could be preserved there for thousands, millions, or even billions of years.”
The discovery of water ice would have significant implications, allowing for extraction to provide drinking water, produce oxygen for breathing, and even create rocket fuel.
Credit: Sky News
