The lander crashed while exploring the Moon.

On March 7, Intuitive Machines (IM) announced that its second lunar exploration mission ended when the lander crashed, leaving its solar batteries unable to recharge. This is the second time in a row that the company has encountered a similar problem.

This mission has been highly anticipated by space researchers thanks to its advanced technological equipment, including unmanned vehicles capable of "leapfrogging", many ground probes, ice drills and 4G network testing systems.

The hexagonal-shaped Athena lander, which is as tall as a giraffe, was supposed to land on the Mons Mouton plateau – the closest point ever to the Moon’s South Pole. However, after launching from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and traveling more than a million kilometers through space, the lander crashed into a crater 250 meters from its original target and landed face down on the lunar surface.

Images released by the company show Athena lying on its side on a slope, with Earth visible between its splayed landing legs – a similar situation to their Odysseus craft in February 2024.

Despite the problems, research teams were still able to conduct several important experiments, including NASA's attempt to drill deep into the lunar surface in search of ice and chemicals, before Athena's batteries ran out.

According to IM, the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels and the extremely cold temperatures in the crater make it difficult for Athena to recharge its batteries. The company declared the mission over and the teams are continuing to evaluate the data collected.

The scientific experiments and technological tests were originally scheduled to last about 10 days, with plans to photograph the eclipse from the Moon's perspective on March 14.

The latest failure is all the more unfortunate, as just days earlier, competitor Firefly Aerospace, also based in Texas, successfully landed its Blue Ghost spacecraft on its first test. The missions are part of NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Cargo Services (CLPS) program, which aims to leverage the capabilities of the private sector to reduce costs and support the Artemis program, NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually Mars.

Of the four CLPS missions performed to date, only one was a successful vertical lander, two were tilt-landing, and one failed to reach the Moon.

According to Thanh Tung/VNA

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/cong-nghe/tau-do-bo-bi-do-khi-tham-do-mat-trang/20250309122033035