Berliner Boersenzeitung - Mission over for private US lander after wonky landing

EUR -
AED 4.174916
AFN 81.278795
ALL 98.830998
AMD 443.224874
ANG 2.048569
AOA 1041.169419
ARS 1329.269015
AUD 1.777268
AWG 2.045966
AZN 1.93044
BAM 1.956029
BBD 2.294409
BDT 138.066161
BGN 1.958333
BHD 0.428417
BIF 3336.062028
BMD 1.136648
BND 1.4847
BOB 7.852057
BRL 6.43741
BSD 1.136353
BTN 96.034776
BWP 15.556095
BYN 3.718801
BYR 22278.301786
BZD 2.282607
CAD 1.569421
CDF 3271.273071
CHF 0.934556
CLF 0.028183
CLP 1081.497554
CNY 8.262861
CNH 8.266392
COP 4787.788918
CRC 573.977286
CUC 1.136648
CUP 30.121173
CVE 110.425569
CZK 24.946014
DJF 202.357248
DKK 7.464754
DOP 66.891227
DZD 150.714948
EGP 57.77798
ERN 17.049721
ETB 149.866892
FJD 2.569337
FKP 0.848395
GBP 0.851491
GEL 3.120139
GGP 0.848395
GHS 17.393391
GIP 0.848395
GMD 81.27495
GNF 9838.82572
GTQ 8.751178
GYD 238.462109
HKD 8.814905
HNL 29.353939
HRK 7.537573
HTG 148.45999
HUF 404.388116
IDR 18865.743345
ILS 4.137307
IMP 0.848395
INR 96.151616
IQD 1489.008946
IRR 47852.883193
ISK 145.695838
JEP 0.848395
JMD 179.891057
JOD 0.806115
JPY 162.147958
KES 147.195428
KGS 99.400074
KHR 4550.001935
KMF 491.315916
KPW 1022.940378
KRW 1619.493432
KWD 0.348303
KYD 0.947028
KZT 583.153652
LAK 24574.331033
LBP 101786.833176
LKR 340.165804
LRD 226.789729
LSL 21.096026
LTL 3.356226
LVL 0.687547
LYD 6.200381
MAD 10.527918
MDL 19.505626
MGA 5126.282341
MKD 61.572814
MMK 2386.269555
MNT 4061.560871
MOP 9.079323
MRU 45.153288
MUR 51.331087
MVR 17.507456
MWK 1973.220887
MXN 22.244236
MYR 4.90459
MZN 72.757081
NAD 21.096091
NGN 1822.490209
NIO 41.716522
NOK 11.785051
NPR 153.660774
NZD 1.916116
OMR 0.437595
PAB 1.136353
PEN 4.167521
PGK 4.581262
PHP 63.466992
PKR 319.454785
PLN 4.27923
PYG 9101.305568
QAR 4.139104
RON 4.978295
RSD 117.341855
RUB 93.21009
RWF 1610.630287
SAR 4.263518
SBD 9.503853
SCR 16.170332
SDG 682.551386
SEK 10.964914
SGD 1.484411
SHP 0.893227
SLE 25.858601
SLL 23834.922834
SOS 649.585132
SRD 41.88517
STD 23526.319758
SVC 9.942814
SYP 14778.026987
SZL 21.096048
THB 37.906642
TJS 11.977113
TMT 3.989635
TND 3.380402
TOP 2.66214
TRY 43.725598
TTD 7.697036
TWD 36.417637
TZS 3057.583081
UAH 47.139777
UGX 4162.633745
USD 1.136648
UYU 47.813914
UZS 14713.90883
VES 98.37474
VND 29558.532549
VUV 136.86312
WST 3.146696
XAF 656.045337
XAG 0.034822
XAU 0.000344
XCD 3.071848
XDR 0.81467
XOF 653.572477
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.535819
ZAR 21.145007
ZMK 10231.204121
ZMW 31.619258
ZWL 366.000208
  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • RYCEF

    -0.3500

    9.9

    -3.54%

  • CMSC

    -0.0530

    22.187

    -0.24%

  • VOD

    0.1250

    9.705

    +1.29%

  • RELX

    0.7800

    54.57

    +1.43%

  • NGG

    -0.1800

    72.86

    -0.25%

  • BTI

    0.7050

    43.565

    +1.62%

  • RIO

    -1.7750

    59.105

    -3%

  • AZN

    -0.0400

    71.67

    -0.06%

  • GSK

    0.4500

    39.42

    +1.14%

  • SCS

    -0.0700

    9.94

    -0.7%

  • CMSD

    -0.0850

    22.265

    -0.38%

  • BP

    -0.7350

    27.335

    -2.69%

  • BCC

    -2.4350

    92.065

    -2.64%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    22.03

    +0.5%

  • JRI

    -0.0400

    12.89

    -0.31%

Mission over for private US lander after wonky landing
Mission over for private US lander after wonky landing / Photo: Handout - Intuitive Machines, LLC/AFP

Mission over for private US lander after wonky landing

Intuitive Machines' second Moon mission ended in disappointment Friday after its spacecraft tipped over and was left unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries, mirroring the US company's first attempt last year.

Text size:

It marked a premature conclusion to a mission that had sparked excitement in the space community, thanks to its cutting-edge payloads, including a futuristic hopping drone, multiple rovers, an ice drill, and a 4G network test.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines (IM) had hoped to make history with Athena, a hexagonal lander roughly the height of a giraffe, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau, closer to the lunar south pole than any mission before.

But after traveling more than a million kilometers through space, the spacecraft came to rest inside a crater, 250 meters from its intended target, face down on the lunar surface.

A photo released by the company showed Athena resting on an incline, with Earth visible between two of its splayed landing legs -- a similar fate to IM's prior landing with its Odysseus spacecraft in February 2024.

- Faulty instruments -

Despite this, teams were able to "accelerate several program and payload milestones," including a NASA experiment designed to drill beneath the lunar surface in search of ice and chemicals, before Athena's batteries depleted, the company said.

"With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge," it continued.

"The mission has concluded, and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."

The science investigations and technology demonstrations were originally expected to last approximately 10 days, with the company hoping to capture a lunar eclipse from the Moon's perspective on March 14.

On Thursday, IM executives suggested that issues with Athena's laser altimeters contributed to the bad landing, similar to the previous mission, when Odysseus came in too fast, caught a foot on the surface, and toppled over.

Specifically, the Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) laser, designed to provide altitude and velocity readings, was returning "noisy" data that could not be fully trusted, while the Hazard Relative Navigation (HRN) sensors only returned intermittent signals, IM said on Thursday.

Athena, like Odysseus, has a tall, slender build, standing 15.6 feet (4.8 meters) in height, raising stability concerns.

But CEO Steve Altemus isisted that the lander's weight distribution kept the center of gravity low, and the company remains confident in its design.

- Texas rival succeeds -

Adding to the disappointment, the latest mishap came just days after Texas rival Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on its first attempt.

These missions are part of NASA's $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which seeks to leverage private industry to lower costs and support Artemis -- NASA's effort to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually reach Mars.

Of the four CLPS missions attempted so far, only one lander managed an upright touchdown, two landed sideways, and one failed to reach the Moon altogether.

IM has been awarded two more lunar missions but will be reviewing data from IM-2 to better understand its implications for IM-3. The company has also secured a NASA contract to deploy data relay satellites around the Moon.

(Y.Berger--BBZ)