Intuitive Machines Launches Second Lunar Mission

Intuitive Machines, a U.S. space exploration company, has successfully launched its second lunar lander, Athena, as part of its ongoing efforts to expand lunar exploration. This mission follows their historic achievement in 2024 when they became the first private company to land on the Moon.

The Athena lander was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:17 PM local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Approximately 43 minutes post-launch, Athena separated from the rocket's upper stage and began its journey towards the Moon, where it is expected to land in about a week.

This mission, designated IM-2, is part of NASA's Artemis lunar program. It aims to touch down at Mons Mouton, a prominent plateau about six kilometers high and located approximately 160 kilometers from the lunar South Pole, a region that has yet to be explored by any previous lunar missions. A key objective of this mission is to search for water ice, crucial for potential future lunar habitation, as it can be utilized for drinking water, oxygen production, and as a fuel source.

The Athena lander measures 4.7 meters in height and has a diameter of nearly 1.6 meters, weighing in at 2.1 tons. It is designed to carry a payload of approximately 130 kilograms. Among its cargo is NASA's Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), which comprises a mass spectrometer and a drill intended to search for ice within the lunar soil.

Also onboard is a scientific instrument from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), called the Lunar Radiometer (LRAD). This device is designed to measure the temperature of the lunar surface without direct contact and is mounted on a 70-centimeter tall robot named Grace, which will transport it to various locations on the Moon.

In addition to these instruments, two rovers--the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) and a smaller rover named Yaoki--are included in the mission to explore the landing area and gather valuable data. MAPP is expected to extend its exploration all the way to the lunar South Pole. There is also a Lunar Surface Communication System on board, which incorporates a 4G/LTE mobile network developed by Nokia.

Intuitive Machines made history last year as the first private company to achieve a successful lunar landing, though their initial lander, Odysseus, unfortunately tipped over upon landing. Prior to that, three other landing attempts had failed.

Currently, alongside Athena, two other lunar landers are en route to the Moon: Firefly Space's Blue Ghost and the Hakuto-R Mission 2. Blue Ghost is projected to arrive before Athena, with a landing scheduled for March 2, while Athena is set to land on March 6.