Intuitive Machines’ second Moon lander, Athena, made a difficult landing on the south pole of the Moon, tipped over, and its mission was terminated. Athena fell into a crater about 400 meters away from the target point during the landing.

While Intuitive Machines continues to take exciting steps in Moon explorations, it faced significant challenges in its second landing mission.

The company’s Moon lander named Athena lost the chance to complete its mission by tipping over while making a difficult landing on the south pole.

This incident once again highlighted the technical and environmental challenges faced by the private sector in space explorations. How Successful Was the Mission? Athena fell into a crater about 400 meters away from the targeted area during landing. This situation adversely affected the orientation of the solar panels and led to the inability to recharge the vehicle’s batteries. The extreme cold in this region, especially at the south pole of the Moon, rapidly rendered the vehicle non-functional.

Nevertheless, Athena achieved some scientific successes before and after landing. NASA’s ice prospecting drilling experiment was completed during the mission. Additionally, the recorded data provided new information about the physical structure of the terrain at the south pole of the Moon. Challenges of Moon Missions Explorations on the Moon’s surface require high technical skills and attention due to the harsh extraterrestrial conditions. The tipping over of Athena emphasizes the importance of terrain conditions during landing and the vehicle’s durability requirements.

Craters, especially, pose unexpected threats to spacecraft. Additionally, it was observed that the very low temperatures on the Moon hindered battery charging. These experiences indicate the necessity of equipping future Moon missions with more resilient technologies suitable for environmental conditions.

Although Intuitive Machines’ first Moon mission on February 22, 2024, was deemed successful, it was cut short. The company’s spacecraft, Odysseus, operated for 7 days after landing on the Moon’s surface but then electronic systems ceased to function due to extreme cold. Nevertheless, Odysseus, the first successful Moon landing by a private company, had given the company great hope for future missions. Learning Opportunity Intuitive Machines stated that it would use the insights gained from the challenges encountered by Athena as a learning opportunity for future missions. The company aims to improve mission success rates with technological innovations.

It was emphasized that advanced navigation and landing systems will be developed, and more resilient vehicles will be designed to withstand environmental factors within this scope.