Intuitive Machines has landed on the Moon a second time and like the previous mission they are reporting that the IM-2 mission Athena lander is “somewhat on its side”.
The Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Athena lunar lander touched down at approximately 12:30 p.m. EST on March 6, 2025. During the landing phase it appeared the descent was going according to mission parameters.
The NASA post-landing news conference included Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; Steve Altemus, CEO, Intuitive Machines, and Tim Crain, chief growth officer, Intuitive Machines.
According to Tim Crain, senior vice president of Intuitive Machines, the laser altimeters had been providing “noisy” data which “remained noisy all the way until touchdown”.
IM-2 Mission in Low Lunar Orbit. Credit: Intuitive Machines
IM-2 Mission in Low Lunar Orbit. Credit: Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is trying to assess the exact attitude and orientation of the Athena lander to determine what science objectives can be achieved. The company said the Athena lander is generating power and is transmitting telemetry back to Earth.
The status and potential deployment of NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment, known as PRIME-1 and small hopping drone is still to be determined.
NASA had already selected Intuitive Machines for another mission, IM-3, which will “deliver four science and technology demonstration payloads to Reiner Gamma on the Moon at the firm fixed price of $77,500,000”.