On March 6th, 2025, Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, carrying a rover by the name Athena, made contact with the Moon’s surface. Its goal was to investigate the south pole of the Moon for evidence of water and lunar ice. However, before it could begin its research, the rover mysteriously powered off after only sending a few signals back down to Earth. Just hours later, the lander was declared “dead” on the Moon’s surface to the public.
Athena was expected to begin its expedition immediately and only power down 10 days later due to a lunar night on its landing location, where the sun doesn’t shine on that side of the moon. However, once Athena began operating, it was clear something went wrong. The images sent from the spacecraft depicted the rover on its side, with the legs pointing up towards the dark sky.
Intuitive Machines announced that in this position, it would be impossible for the rover to charge, let alone bring itself upright. “With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” stated the company.
But not all hope was lost. Even though the rover can no longer operate, it managed to transmit data to Earth while it was still working. That makes the IM-2 mission “southernmost lunar landing and surface operations ever achieved,” as Intuitive Machines exclaimed. In addition, information was gathered from the spacecraft and is currently being investigated by scientists.
This is not the first time a lunar mission has gone wrong. Athena’s sideways landing was ever similar to the company’s previous moon landing attempt, Odysseus, which had also toppled on its side. In total, around half of all moon landings fail.
On the contrary, every failure is a learning experience. Taking what went wrong in the IM-2 to improve the next mission is the real goal of these aerospace companies. Intuitive Machines’ CEO, Steve Altemus, said, “We prepare a set of recommendations for what went well, what went wrong, what needs to be fixed for the next mission.”
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/science/intuitive-machines-athena-mission-concluded/index.html
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/dead-athena-moon-lander-seen-inside-its-crater-grave-from-lunar-orbit-photos