Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-07-2025 04:43 PM
Please use this topic to discuss Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander "Athena" and the IM-2 moon landing mission.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-07-2025 04:45 PM
Spent some time this afternoon at Intuitive Machines learning about the IM-2 mission.
On schedule to launch in late February, the IM-2 lander "Athena" will deliver two rovers, a hopper, an ice drill and the first 4G/LTE cellular network demo to the surface of the moon.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-26-2025 05:09 PM
NASA video
Watch Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C moon lander lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IM-2 is scheduled to launch at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC Feb. 27).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-26-2025 07:37 PM
A bit of a nailbiter there as Intuitive Machines' waited for telemetry to start flowing from Athena, but the data did come, crowning a smooth launch! Eight days to the moon...
GACspaceguy Member
Posts: 3165 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
posted 02-27-2025 09:31 AM
The launch could be seen from our yard here in South Georgia. With it being an equatorial trajectory (and what looked like a slight southern inclination), we only captured the last 30 to 45 seconds of the first stage burn.
Second stage could be seen with binoculars until it disappeared into the western horizon and was fun to watch knowing where the ultimate zero velocity location is going to be!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-03-2025 03:31 PM
Intuitive Machines expects a landing opportunity on March 6 at 11:32 a.m. CST (1732 GMT).
Live landing coverage is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. CST (1630 GMT) on the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission page and NASA+. The content on both streams will be identical.
Posts: 1388 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 03-04-2025 09:56 AM
As info, the large crater, with the dark patch, that appears in the lower left corner at 0:17 is Humboldt. It is located on the Eastern limb of the Moon (as seen from Earth) and is about 200km in diameter.
The image sequence from 0 seconds to 20 seconds in this video is from a public affairs camera and is made up of 240 images taken over a mid-latitude region over a 10-minute span. Each picture is shown as one camera frame.
For reference, Athena captured the image sequence starting at 20 seconds over the Moon's south pole region near her intended landing site, Mons Mouton — one of NASA's designated human landing sites for the Artemis campaign.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 06:42 AM
Intuitive Machines live video
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 10:29 AM
Athena is on the surface and generating power. Its status, though, is unclear as manual commands needed to be sent to shut down its engine and landing systems.
Intuitive Machines is gathering more data and (maybe) photos to confirm the lander's orientation.
These photos were taken when Athena was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the surface during its descent today (March 6):
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 12:59 PM
From Lunar Outpost:
All indications from our systems at Lunar Outpost show that the MAPP rover is alive and transmitting data from the lunar surface.
A press conference will begin at the top of the hour:
Space Cadet Carl Member
Posts: 306 From: Lake Orion, MI Registered: Feb 2006
posted 03-07-2025 07:03 AM
Steve Altemus put as much of a positive spin on the situation as possible. But the fact remains a lot of what he was gushing about might have been reason to boast a half-century ago, but not as much now.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-07-2025 08:12 AM
Athena's mission is over, having landed in a crater in an orientation such that it cannot recharge.
Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side. After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA's PRIME-1 suite, before the lander's batteries depleted.
With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.
Headshot Member
Posts: 1388 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 03-07-2025 05:25 PM
Is there any idea when LRO might be able to photograph that area?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54293 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-25-2025 12:25 PM
NASA release
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Views IM-2 on Moon's Surface
NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Intuitive Machines' IM-2 on the Moon's surface on March 7, just under 24 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Later that day Intuitive Machines called an early end of mission for IM-2, which carried NASA technology demonstrations as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
Above: The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena lander, indicated here with a white arrow, reached the surface of the Moon on March 6, 2025, near the center of Mons Mouton. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the site at 12:54 p.m. EST on March 7. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
posted 01-07-2025 04:43 PM
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