Athena's Failed Attempt: Intuitive Machines Faces Another Lunar Setback

The lunar lander, Athena, from Texas-based Intuitive Machines, has ended its mission after a failed landing near the moon's south pole. The spacecraft landed in a crater, misaligned and unlikely to be reactivated. Despite this setback, data and some experimental results have been recovered.

A private lunar lander operated by Intuitive Machines has ceased functioning after an unsuccessful landing attempt near the moon's south pole, officials announced Friday.

The lander, named Athena, misjudged its intended target by over 800 feet, landing sideways in a cold crater. While it initially sent imagery and activated some experiments, it soon fell silent, making recovery of its function improbable due to its solar panel misalignment and the cold conditions.

This marks Intuitive Machines' second unsuccessful lunar landing, with a prior mission also concluding with a compromised descent. In contrast, Firefly Aerospace, another Texas entity, successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface earlier this week under NASA's commercial programme.

(With inputs from agencies.)