WASHINGTON (AFP) – Intuitive Machines’ second moon mission ended in disappointment after the United States’ (US) company confirmed that its spacecraft had tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries – mirroring its first attempt last year.
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 blasting off last week aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and traveling more than a million kilometres through space, the spacecraft stumbled at the final hurdle on Thursday, coming down at an awkward angle.
IM confirmed that it had fallen face-first into a crater, at least 250 metres from its intended landing site. A photo released by the company showed Athena resting on an incline, with Earth visible between two of its flared landing legs – a fate similar to IM’s prior landing with its Odysseus spacecraft back in 2024.
“With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, IM does not expect Athena to recharge,” the company said in a statement, adding “the mission has concluded.”
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. IM executives suggested that issues with Athena’s laser altitude metres 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. These missions are part of NASA’s USD2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, which seeks to lower costs and support NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the moon and eventually reach Mars.
IM has been awarded two more lunar missions but will be reviewing data to understand its implications for future spacecraft.
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.
