A Texas company's privately owned lunar lander was deemed non-functional after landing off-target sideways in a crater close to the Moon's south pole, the firm said on Friday. The mission to drop scientific payloads for NASA and other clients concluded within less than 24 hours of a failed touchdown attempt.
Lander missed target by over 800 feet
The lander, dubbed Athena, lifted off last week to great expectation but did not land as expected. Intuitive Machines said that Athena overshot its intended landing spot by over 800 feet (250 meters) and instead landed in a cold lunar crater. Though this was a letdown, the lander still managed to return images verifying its last location before it fell silent.
NASA and other payload providers had outfitted Athena with an ice drill, a drone, and two small rovers, but the extreme conditions of the crater and the positioning of its solar panels have made it improbable that its batteries can be recharged.
Company confirms end of mission
Intuitive Machines confirmed that the mission had officially ended and that engineers were now examining the data gathered during its short time of operation.
“The mission has concluded, and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission,” the company said in a statement.
It is the second lunar landing failure for Intuitive Machines. The same type of mission failed a year ago, with the lander tilting on its side, although that spacecraft was able to stay flying for longer after experiencing communication and operational issues.
Successful moon landing by another Texas firm
Earlier this week, another company based in Texas, Firefly Aerospace, was successful under NASA's commercial lunar delivery program. Firefly's Blue Ghost lander landed successfully in the far northern latitudes of the Moon's near side, a contrast to the failure of Intuitive Machines.
As NASA increasingly depends on private enterprises for lunar exploration, the most recent failure serves to highlight the challenges of landing on the Moon's rocky surface, particularly close to its daunting polar regions.
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