Athena lander reaches moon's surface but status unclear

The Manila Times

Athena lander reaches moon's surface but status unclear  Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O) announces on March 6, 2025 that its robotic Athena lander  reached the moon’s surface, but its status and condition remain unclear in a tense moment for the company’s second attempt. Uncertainty over the lander’s health sent Intuitive Machines' stock down 15.6 percent after the live stream of the landing ended. The six-legged Athena lander, carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, descended over a flat-topped mountain named Mons Mouton, about 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole, and had aimed to have made a landing at around 12:32 p.m. ET. But by that time, the lander's engine was still running, telemetry showed, as it appeared to hover over the moon. Company mission control staff commanded the lander's engine and systems to shut down amid its uncertain status.  NASA/REUTERS  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #athenalander #inuitivemachines

Transcript

00:00One of those decisions will be using hazard detection to fly to an intended

00:06landing region and then autonomously make those decisions of a safe site

00:09whether that's safe from a boulders or steep slopes. I'm showing that we are

00:15sensing lunar acceleration. We're on the surface let's evaluate.

00:22We can confirm the engine is still running and therefore needs to be

00:27upright. If we were in a different configuration the engine would have

00:32snuffed. Okay so we have confirmation I believe that was from comm that says the

00:39engine's still running. This picture you're looking at the 10 kilometers up

00:46during that breaking burn that powered descent initiation that long burn that

00:50brought us 4,000 miles per hour breaking burn. Incredible shot. That's what I'm

00:56saying as well. All right there's another view there looks like from this

01:05panel we're looking at the garage so that's a lunar outpost map rover inside

01:09of that square right there Leah. This looks like it's probably about the same

01:14altitude maybe about 10 meters above the surface and one more here for

01:20everyone. It's about the same altitude there maybe a little bit more exposure

01:24but these cameras still running in HRN mode. These photos came down for us just

01:30a few moments ago wanted to share those before we jump back into mission

01:34control as flight controllers are looking at this. AD this is prop can you

01:37confirm what is getting powered down?

01:42Everything we can right now prop. Copy.

01:54you

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