Athena Moon probe dies after landing sideways in a crater

The Athena lander, which touched down on the Moon on Thursday and promptly fell over, has been declared dead by its operators.

The spacecraft missed its intended landing point by more than 1,300 feet (400 metres), coming down in far more rugged terrain than intended – in a crater, no less – and toppled over. According to its maker Intuitive Machines, the lander was unable to recharge its batteries due to being stranded in the shade, and the space biz declared the mission over Friday. The lander made its way over to Earth’s natural satellite using a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket.

“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,” the outfit said. “The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.”

The lander set down at 1730 UTC on Thursday, and it immediately became clear there was something wrong. Instruments appeared to show the lander was horizontal, not vertical. At a press conference shortly after touchdown, Intuitive Machines’ CEO Steve Altemus said, “we don’t believe we’re on the correct attitude on the surface, yet again,” though the spacecraft was communicating with ground control on Earth at that point.

“Yet again” is a reference to this being Intuitive Machines’ second failed attempt to successfully land a craft on the Moon, the previous go was about a year ago.

Athena did send back at least one picture, below, showing the lander on its side but looking out to Earth.

Looking back at Earth one last time as the Athena lander sits on its side … Click to enlarge. Source: Intuitive Machines.

There had been hope that the three rovers the spacecraft was carrying – two wheeled and one rocket-powered – might still be able to disengage from the delivery vehicle and gather data. Athena was the main communications hub, running a Nokia-designed 4G network for the rovers and relaying information to an orbiting satellite. Unfortunately Athena only managed to send back 250MB before conking out.

“After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA’s PRIME-1 suite, before the lander’s batteries depleted,” Intuitive Machines said.

PRIME-1, or to give it its full name Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1, was NASA’s drilling rig that was designed to bore three feet into the Moon’s surface and bring up samples for mass spectrometer analysis to detect signs of water. Athena’s landing ground on the South Pole was picked because it’s thought to be the most water-rich area of the Moon, and it’s also a prime location for eventual manned missions for that reason.

While there was still power remaining in the probe, NASA “successfully demonstrated the [PRIME-1] hardware’s full range of motion,” the space agency said, and the mass spectrometer picked up elements of the propellant used for the landing.

As we said, this is the second time Intuitive Machines has lost a probe on the Moon, in both cases the equipment toppled over. The first attempt, the Odyssey probe, tried a landing in February last year but was travelling too fast and broke a leg on landing, leaving it horizontal, too.

Meanwhile, another private mission to the Moon this week seems to be doing well after touching down on Sunday, making it the first successful commercial lunar landing. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost craft is also carrying NASA kit as part of the US agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program that is funding private companies as they attempt to deliver hardware to the Moon.

“Empowering American companies to deliver science and tech to the Moon on behalf of NASA both produces scientific results and continues development of a lunar economy,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

“While we’re disappointed in the outcome of the [Athena] IM-2 mission, we remain committed to supporting our commercial vendors as they navigate the very difficult task of landing and operating on the Moon.” ®