Intuitive Machines’ NOVA-C lander, Athena, touched down on the moon on March 6, but no cheers rang out from the NOVA Control flight control room in Houston.
Speaking at the post-landing press conference later that day, the company’s CEO, Steve Altemus, said that his team are still trying to find out exactly where it landed, and if it is standing properly upright on the surface, and they might not know for a couple of days.
After completing its 600-second descent burn from orbit to what would be the southernmost lunar landing ever attempted, a lunar plateau near the south pole called Mons Mouton, tensions remained high as data started to flow in creating a partial picture that suggested the lander could be tilted or on its side.
Altemus and Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, confirmed at the following press conference that it was in the general area, but might be outside of a 50-meter landing radius.
“We don’t know the exact location of the lander, we do know that it is returning data, and we look forward to actually being able to work with intuitive machines on a plan to return as much science data and technology data as we can during its stay on the moon,” she said.
Verbal confirmation of touchdown went out from mission control by around 12:35 p.m. NASA would confirm on social media platform X hours after the fact that the craft touched down on the moon at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Solar charging was confirmed, and mission control was able to communicate back and forth with the lander, which obeyed commands to shut down unnecessary systems in order to conserve energy.
On board Athena was a drill and spectrometer to collect data from lunar soil samples, a lunar rover, and the first rocket-powered drone or “hopper” deployed to the moon. Named Grace, the “hopper” will take several hop-like flights from Athena to the bottom of a crater where it was expected to study permanently shaded areas of the moon.
Pictures, which were not supposed to be gathered for several hours, were prioritized to achieve a better understanding of the vehicle’s orientation—in other words, ensure it is positioned properly upright on the surface so it can perform its multifaceted 10-day mission.
Officials confirmed at the press conference that it could still communicate with the onboard payloads, but Athena’s orientation and specific location has to be confirmed before what level of utility the hopper, rover, and drills can be achieved.
As of the press conference, they were still waiting for pictures from NASA’s lunar reconnaissance orbiter to get a full picture of how and where Athena landed on the moon.
“We’re collecting photos now and downlinking those, and we’re going to get a picture from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera from above, from orbit, and we'll confirm that over the coming days, as we get that data down,” Altemus said.
The next pass of the orbiter is expected in the next day or two.
Intuitive Machines’ troublesome landing comes after its first lander, Odysseus, broke one of its legs upon descent last year, causing it to fall on its side. It was still able to communicate with mission control, relay data, and perform some of its mission functions in that state.
Tim Crain, Intuitive Machines’ Chief Growth Officer, who was directing mission control during the landing sequence, emphasized the amount of progress made between the two lander missions, describing the difference as “night and day.”
While data is still being collected, the team suspects that the problem could be one of navigation, stating that it appeared Athena made a decision to change landing sites during her descent. The specific issues could be a continuing issue from the previous mission with the laser range finders or with the crater mapping system installed onboard to help direct Athena to the landing zone, but Altreus and Crain said more data was still needed before making any official diagnoses could be affirmed.
Intuitive Machines’ CEO affirmed that this mission, like Odysseus, was still a success, despite the ongoing issues and the potential that Athena is resting on its side.
“Any time that you ship a spacecraft to Florida for flight and end up a week later operating on the moon, I declare that a success,” he said.
This is the latest example of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program setting the stage for America’s manned return to the moon and is the United States’ second successful lunar landing in less than a week.
Athena’s landing is also the second lunar landing attempt this month, following Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost’s successful landing on the northeast side of the moon’s nearside on March 2.
But Crain pointed out that Intuitive Machines’ landing zone was much more difficult than Firefly’s, and put greater stress on the crater tracking system than areas of higher latitude.
“The South Pole is different,” he said. “It’s this Twilight space of shadows and grays that was interesting. I’m really proud of how well our crater tracking system did in this very unusual lighting condition.”
The CLPS program is essentially a privatizing of delivery services to the moon in preparation for permanent human settlements on the moon and to lay the foundation of a lunar economy. Each mission is completely conducted by each commercial partner, and the Athena lander was directed to perform an autonomous landing.
Many of these companies are new and have never attempted a lunar landing, and NASA has accepted that failures may come with the opening up of these opportunities.
“If we’re flying missions at one-tenth of the cost of a NASA mission, and we fail two of them, we still get eight missions for that same price, even with one or two or three failures, this is still a very economical proposition,” Chris Culbert, CLPS Project Office Manager said in NASA’s pre-launch coverage. “It’s a risk posture which is more risk-tolerant than NASA is accustomed to.
“There’s not a single one of these companies that’s willing to bet their mission on a coin toss. Every one of them is doing what they can in order to have the most successful mission possible.”
NASA has dedicated $2.6 billion in CLPS contracts through 2028, with $62.5 million awarded to Intuitive Machines to “send NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon using its American-designed and -manufactured lunar lander,” according to a press release.
Fox echoed her support of the CLPS program despite the complications.
“I’m really proud of this team, the intuitive machines team,” she said. “I’m always really proud of my clips team, and of all the people, all the experimenters that trusted us with their amazing technology. I’m really, really proud that American companies continue to be at the forefront of innovation and development as we move forward to create this lunar economy.
The lander, rover, and hopper were set to communicate with one another by testing the first-ever 4G LTE cellular network built by Nokia and Bell Labs. Nokia is set to modify this network for use on Artemis III, NASA’s first attempt to land humans on the moon since Apollo 17.
The lander is also topped with a retroreflector array, which was set to serve as a permanent reference point on the moon’s surface for future spacecraft. NASA has said that Mons Mouton has been considered as a possible landing site for Artemis III.
Intuitive Machines is slated to fly a third mission by early 2026, sending yet another lander and the first of many data relay satellites.
The CEO told members of the press that his company may delay that mission, and allow its launch date to be determined by when that satellite will be ready to ride along with their next lander.
