Intuitive Machines’ Athena space craft declared dead after landing sideways in a crater on the moon

A private royal royal robotic land is no longer called Athens after it landed on a side in a hole near the southern pole of the moon on Thursday afternoon.

Houston -based intuitive officials, which built and developed the spacecraft to the moon, Announced The task is officially ended after Athens missed the planned landing mark by more than 800 feet and fell.

“The mission has ended and the teams continue to evaluate the data collected during the mission,” the company said in a statement.

This was the attempt to relegate the second lunar of the intuitive machines last year. ATHENA, a 15 -foot robotic spacecraft, is almost similar OdysseusThe drop of other intuitive machines touched the moon in February 2024.

Nassa certain Athens landed on the moon at approximately 12:30 pm on Thursday. During a press conference at 4 pm, the CEO of the intuitive machines Steve Altimos said that the team was not sure of the place where Athens fell and that Athens’s mission was “out of unwanted”, which is the term “unexpected” space, which means that the mission may not be fulfilled as it was originally planned by alternative machines.

Athens is appointed to land on Mons MoutonA flat mount, about 100 miles from the southern pole of the moon. If it succeeds, the landing of Athens will be closer to the Antarctic until now. Athens also carried NASA exercises It aims to withdraw and analyze lunar soil to see if there is frozen water and other vehicles in the region.

Athens was the second satellite landing this week to a private American company. Spacex also tried to launch another Mammoth Mammoth missile on Thursday, but lost the minutes of the test on the test flight and the spacecraft exploded over Florida, The Associated Press mentioned.

What was the task of Athens on the moon?

Athens Rover was expected to be called called Independent mobile phone excavation platform (MAPP). It is a four -wheel vehicle, which was built by the moon’s location in Colorado, that would test cellular communication equipment in the region and work to create a 3D map for the moon’s surface. If things go well, it will be Map The first American robot on the moon.

“Voyage 1 is not only related to exploration – it proves that the private industry can work and maintain the economic value on the moon, preserve and create it.” In February 26 statement. “These historical achievements create lunar infrastructure in the real world, the use of resources, and planetary mobility-basic steps towards a permanent human presence outside the earth.”

Then Athena was supposed to send a mini -head, Grace calledA small robot designed to search the moon for water.

But one of the most important parts of ATHENA was NASA’s PRIME-1 experience, which is training for excavation for the moon, searching for water ice and soil analysis. According to NASAThis information will help “scientists better understand the moon’s resources.”

If there is evidence of water, NASA is keen to analyze it in preparation for sending more astronauts to the moon as part of Artemis programWho has a great goal in training astronauts on the moon as a starting stone for the task of sending them to Mars.

“The real goal is Mars,” said retired NASA astronauts, Stephen Swanson, about the Artemis program In an interview in 2020. “We will use the moon as a test because Mars is a very difficult task.”

He added: “In addition to Mars, we can also use the moon as a test of other things – to see how we can already collect materials from the moon itself and we may use it to make our fuel.”

This was the second American spacecraft that lands on the surface of the moon this week

Another company launched by Texas, Firefly Aerospace, launched, Blue Ghost Hander In January and landed on the surface of the moon on Sunday morning. This was Firefly Aerospace first trip to the moonWith the help of NASA’s Moon Campaign Services Program.

Since landing, Blue Ghost was Send photos and data One of the experiments that were conducted on the moon. Like Athens, the spacecraft collected samples of lunar soil.