The private lunar lander Athena, developed by Intuitive Machines, has touched down near the Moon’s south pole, though the exact condition of the spacecraft remains unclear. The Houston-based company has confirmed that the lander is on the surface, but mission controllers are working to determine its orientation. The landing, which took place on March 6 at 12:32 p.m. EST, was part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The mission, known as IM-2, aims to deliver scientific instruments to the lunar surface to investigate resources and conduct technology demonstrations. A post-landing press conference has been scheduled to provide further details on the lander’s status.
Mission and Landing Details
According to reports, the IM-2 mission was launched on February 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Athena entered lunar orbit on March 3, with no additional course corrections required due to the precision of its approach. The descent sequence included multiple automated maneuvers, such as Terrain Relative Navigation and Hazard Detection and Avoidance, to ensure a safe landing at Mons Mouton. The lander’s final descent saw it slow to a rate of 3 feet per second before making contact with the surface. Confirmation signals were expected within 15 seconds of landing.
Scientific Goals and Onboard Technology
As reported by Space.com, Athena carries NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), which consists of a drill known as TRIDENT and a mass spectrometer (MSolo) to search for water ice beneath the lunar surface. A secondary spacecraft, Grace, has also been deployed to explore a permanently shadowed crater. Additionally, the lander features the first-ever 4G/LTE network on the Moon, provided by Nokia Bell Labs, and a Laser Retro-Reflector Array (LRA) for future navigation experiments. Operations are planned to continue for approximately ten days before lunar nightfall.
