The moon is the place to be this week, as a second spacecraft has landed on the lunar surface with the last seven days. The Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission appears to have touched down on the moon’s surface today, Thursday March 6, at around 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT) at the Mons Mouton region near the moon’s south pole.
However, the landing did not go smoothly. The lander seemed to touch down on the surface at the planned time, but the main engine did not shut off for several minutes, so the spacecraft could have kicked up a large amount of dust or damaged itself during this time. It’s also not yet clear what the orientation of the spacecraft on the surface is, so it’s possible that it could be on its side or facing the wrong direction. The good news for the Intuitive Machines team is that the solar panels do appear to be collecting power, which is a promising sign.
Intuitive Machines did share this image of Athena coming in to land, and further images and information are expected to come in soon:
The mission, which was launched using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 26, was attempting the most southerly ever landing on the moon. The moon’s south pole region is of particular interest to scientists because it is thought to host water ice in permanently shadowed craters, and is a region that NASA is interested in exploring in its future crewed moon missions.
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This is Intuitive Machines’ second lunar landing, as last year it became the first private company to ever make a soft landing on the moon with its Odysseus lander. The landing had some problems as well, however, as the spacecraft tipped as it came down on the moon’s rough surface and the lander ended up on its side. Although it was still able to collect some science data, the spacecraft’s lifespan was limited as it had problems collecting energy using its solar panels.
With this second landing with Athena, Intuitive Machines joins the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander which touched down on the moon’s surface on Sunday, March 2. Both company’s landers are part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services or CLPS program, which aims to get private companies to deliver supplies and technology to the moon ahead of sending humans there under the Artemis program.