The US private landing ship ‘died’ on the moon

After about a day of evaluation, American Intuitive Machines has determined the fate of its latest moon landing ship, Athena. A picture taken by the ship on the moon clearly shows its fate. Athena turned to the Earth – the blue spark on the horizon of the Moon – with legs facing the sky after landing in the Monson Mouton area, the southernmost moon. With an amphibious ship that could not produce energy, Intuitive Machines declared the end of the task.

“With the direction of the sun, the direction of solar panels and extremely cold temperatures in the low pit, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to charge. The mission has ended and the groups are continuing to evaluate the data obtained,” the company said.

However, Intuitive Machines still celebrated the fact that Athena landed in this low pit. “This is the most landing and surface activity near the southernmost moon ever achieved,” the company said.

According to NASA, Athena landed about 400 m from the expected location. This is the second time Intuitive Machines tried to take the train to the Moon. The first time last year, the Odysseus amphibious ship was also tilted when one of its four legs was broken because the moon surface was faster than expected.

Intuitive Machines has added cameras and instructions and navigation to Athena, along with some special goods. The amphibious ship carries two small self-propelled robots, Nokia 4G communication system, Grace dance robot and a NASA tape search drill called Prime-1.

“After the landing, the mission control team accelerated a number of program and load milestones, including Prime-1, before the ship’s battery was exhausted,” Intuitive Machines said. Prime-1 drill has successfully demonstrated the full range of hardware motion in harsh environments in the universe. A block spectrum in the Prime-1 device also detects some gases that are likely to emit from the train engines during landing.

During the press conference after Athena landed, Intuitive Machines CEO, Steve Altemus, still considered this effort as a success because the ship had reached the Moon and operated, even in a short time. He said the company will learn from experience and apply to the next moon mission, IM-3, scheduled to take place in 2026. The company also has a $ 117 million contract with NASA for the fourth task in 2027.

Both Intuitive Machines and NASA emphasize the roughness of the southernmost moon, with the angle of harsh sunlight and difficulty approaching, creating a special challenge for landing. Limitations in direct contact with the Earth also cause more difficulties for efforts.

“It is the twisty space of darkness and gray, very interesting,” Tim Crain, technology director at Intuitive Machines, talked about the light in the low -lying hole when Athena landed. “I am really proud of how the low -lying tracking system works in this very unusual lighting conditions. We will do better next time,” he added.