The Second Lunar Journey: Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Mission Concludes
The American company Intuitive Machines has declared its second lunar endeavor, the IM-2 mission, complete. During this venture, the Athena landing module reached the Moon’s surface, though it came to rest on its side after touchdown.
The landing occurred roughly 250 meters from the intended target, following a last-minute trajectory adjustment to steer clear of treacherous lunar terrain. Despite the module’s awkward tilt, the team managed to establish communication with Athena, capturing photographs both during its descent and after settling on the surface.
IM-2 unfolded as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an initiative tapping private companies to ferry scientific instruments to the Moon. Aboard Athena was an array of cutting-edge tools: a hopping drone, a handful of compact rovers, and a NASA drill designed to probe the lunar soil up to a meter deep.
Among the mission’s highlights was the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 (PRIME-1), an ambitious project aimed at gauging the ice content within the lunar soil. According to planetary scientist Phil Metzger from the University of Central Florida, this ice could unlock secrets about the inner Solar System’s past, shedding light on how water and carbon found their way into the Earth-Moon system billions of years ago.
Athena lifted off on February 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched from a Florida spaceport. The timing of the landing was carefully chosen to align with optimal sunlight on the lunar surface, as the module relied on solar power to function. Had the landing gone flawlessly, the mission was slated to span about ten days.
Yet, the module’s sideways position disrupted its solar panels’ ability to soak up sunlight effectively. Coupled with the bone-chilling temperatures of the lunar crater, this predicament hastened the mission’s end. Still, Intuitive Machines celebrates a remarkable feat: this marks the southernmost successful lunar landing in the annals of space exploration.
