Athena, a lunar lander launched by aerospace company Intuitive Machines, encountered a mishap during its journey to the Moon. Instead of landing at the intended site in the Mons Mouton region at the south pole, Athena came to rest inside a crater approximately 820 feet away. The lander, which was transported to the Moon aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, unfortunately landed on its side and is now non-operational.
According to Intuitive Machines, images transmitted from Athena confirmed its sideways position on the lunar surface. Due to the depletion of its batteries and unfavorable conditions in the crater, the company does not anticipate the lander to regain functionality. Despite this setback, Intuitive Machines stated that they are analyzing the data gathered during the mission, which was aimed at showcasing lunar mobility and resource prospecting.
Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA, acknowledged the challenges encountered during the mission and emphasized the importance of learning from setbacks to advance future space exploration efforts. NASA highlighted that valuable data was still collected before the unexpected conclusion of the mission, indicating a silver lining amidst the difficulties faced by the Athena mission.
