Private lunar lander Athena may have fallen over while touching down near the moon's south pole

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Private lunar lander may have fallen over while touching down near the moon’s south pole

By MARCIA DUNN
Updated 6:01 PM EST, March 6, 2025

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A privately owned lunar lander touched down on the moon with a drill, drone and rovers for NASA and other customers Thursday, but quickly ran into trouble and may have fallen over.

Intuitive Machines said it was uncertain whether its Athena lander was upright near the moon’s south pole — standing 15 feet (4.7 meters) tall — or lying sideways like its first spacecraft from a year ago. Controllers rushed to turn off some of the lander’s equipment to conserve power while trying to determine what went wrong.

It was the second moon landing this week by a Texas company under NASA’s commercial lunar delivery program. Sunday’s touchdown was a complete success.

Intuitive Machines’ newest Athena lander dropped out of lunar orbit as planned. The hourlong descent appeared to go well until the final approach when the laser navigation system began acting up. It took a while for Mission Control to confirm touchdown.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/moon-landing-nasa-intuitive-machines-athena-cf4a88baa6644fb381dbaea497001d51