IM-2 Mission has Landed on the Moon
Intuitive Machines Cannot Confirm that Athena is Upright on the Surface
The second Intuitive Machines attempt to place an unmanned lander on the Moon has been at least partially successful. The company confirmed that the lander did arrive on the lunar surface earlier this afternoon, but it could not confirm the status of the lander.
"We are generating power. We are communicating through our telemetry radio. And we are working to evaluate exactly what our orientation is on the surface."
Dr. Tim Crain, Intuitive Machines
During the live webcast of the landing attempt, Dr. Tim Crain, VP of Research & Development
Intuitive Machines, said that "I'm showing that we are showing lunar accelleration, so we're on the surface. Let's evaluate."
A few moments later, it was announced that "We can confirm that the engine is still running, and therefore needs to be upright. If we were in a different configuration the engine would have stopped."
About 15 minutes after the landing, Crain said on the livestream that "we're shedding power as fast as we can to keep the vehicle in good health. We are generating power. We are communicating through our telemetry radio. And we are working to evaluate exactly what our orientation is on the surface."
The situation is eerily similar to what happened with the IM-1 Mission, when the Odysseus lander suffered an apparent landing gear failure and wound up nearly on its side on the lunar surface.
So the lander is on the Moon and it solar panels are providing power, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Updates will be posted as they become available from Intuitive Machines.