The lander crashed while exploring the Moon.

On March 7th, Intuitive Machines (IM) announced that its second lunar exploration mission had ended when its lander capsized, rendering the solar panels unable to recharge. This marks the second consecutive incident involving the company.

This mission was once highly anticipated by space researchers thanks to its advanced technological equipment, including unmanned "leapfrog" drones, multiple ground probes, ice drills, and a 4G network testing system.

The Athena lander, hexagonal in shape and about the height of a giraffe, was expected to land on the Mons Mouton plateau – the closest location to the Moon's South Pole ever reached. However, after launching from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and traveling over a million kilometers in 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 outstretched landing legs – a situation similar to that of their Odysseus spacecraft in February 2024.

Despite the setback, the research teams still managed to conduct several important experiments, including NASA's experiment to drill deep into the lunar surface to search for ice and chemicals, before Athena's battery ran out.

According to IM, given the sun's direction, the orientation of the solar panels, and the extremely cold temperatures inside the crater, Athena was unlikely to recharge its batteries. The company stated that the mission was complete and the teams were continuing to evaluate the collected data.

Initially, the scientific experiments and technological tests were planned to last about 10 days, with the intention of photographing the solar eclipse from the Moon's perspective on March 14th.

This latest failure is all the more regrettable considering that just days earlier, competitor Firefly Aerospace, also based in Texas, successfully landed its Blue Ghost spacecraft in its first test. These missions are part of NASA's $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Cargo Service (CLPS) program, which aims to leverage private sector capabilities to reduce costs and support the Artemis program – NASA's effort to return astronauts to the Moon and advance toward Mars.

Of the four CLPS missions undertaken so far, only one has successfully landed vertically, two have landed at an angle, 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