Intuitive Machines blames dim lighting and dodgy data for second lunar faceplant
(2025/05/14)
- Reference: 1747251306
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/05/14/intuitive_machines_postmortem/
- Source link:
Intuitive Machines has blamed poor lighting, a problematic altimeter, and difficulties spotting craters for the company's second lunar lander tipping over.
Landing on the Moon isn't easy. Intuitive Machines has tried twice and experienced problems on both occasions. Its [1]first mission , using a lander dubbed Odysseus, descended too quickly and broke a leg. Odysseus tipped over and suffered a truncated mission as its batteries ran down.
[2]A second mission in March 2025 also made it to the surface. However, "yet again," according to Intuitive Machines, the lander tipped over. This time, the lander fell in a crater due to landing in terrain that was more rugged than expected.
[3]
During an [4]earnings call this week, CEO Steve Altemus blamed "signal noise and distortion," which reduced the accuracy of the altimeter during the final phase of descent. He then cited "long shadows and dim lighting conditions" that played havoc with the precision landing.
[5]
[6]
Finally, there was crater recognition. "Our optical navigation used imagery from LRO at a hundred kilometers from the lunar surface that could not accurately account for how craters appear at lower altitudes, with South Pole lighting conditions as you approach the landing site."
[7]Athena Moon lander officially FOADs – falls over and dies – in crater
[8]Moonshot goes sideways as Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander seemingly falls over
[9]Controllers getting no response from Lunar Trailblazer orbiter or Odin asteroid mining probe
[10]Intuitive Machines shoots for the Moon with NASA's $4.82B lunar relay jackpot
On the plus side, Altemus said: "We collected the most detailed imagery of the lunar South Pole on mission two," which will feed into Intuitive Machines' software to improve crater tracking.
The next mission is planned for the end of 2025, and the company has updated the spacecraft with lessons learned from previous landings. There will be additional altimeters, a lighting-independent sensor to measure surface velocity, and an updated crater database for navigating the lunar surface.
"We must learn fast, fix what needs fixing, and move forward smarter," said Altemus.
[11]
He noted in the call that Intuitive Machines had approximately $14 million in "success payments" but was still in discussion with its customers, which include NASA, regarding IM-2, which he described as "partially successful." He also said there would be a slight cost increase for the additional sensors, but did not give a figure.
Intuitive Machines will be fervently hoping it will be third time lucky for its lander. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/02/batteries_odysseus/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/athena_moon_probe_dies/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://investors.intuitivemachines.com/events/event-details/intuitive-machines-first-quarter-2025-earnings-conference-call
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/athena_moon_probe_dies/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/intuitive_machines_landing/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/nasa_and_astroforge_missions_prove/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/18/intuitive_machines_lunar_relay/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Landing on the Moon isn't easy. Intuitive Machines has tried twice and experienced problems on both occasions. Its [1]first mission , using a lander dubbed Odysseus, descended too quickly and broke a leg. Odysseus tipped over and suffered a truncated mission as its batteries ran down.
[2]A second mission in March 2025 also made it to the surface. However, "yet again," according to Intuitive Machines, the lander tipped over. This time, the lander fell in a crater due to landing in terrain that was more rugged than expected.
[3]
During an [4]earnings call this week, CEO Steve Altemus blamed "signal noise and distortion," which reduced the accuracy of the altimeter during the final phase of descent. He then cited "long shadows and dim lighting conditions" that played havoc with the precision landing.
[5]
[6]
Finally, there was crater recognition. "Our optical navigation used imagery from LRO at a hundred kilometers from the lunar surface that could not accurately account for how craters appear at lower altitudes, with South Pole lighting conditions as you approach the landing site."
[7]Athena Moon lander officially FOADs – falls over and dies – in crater
[8]Moonshot goes sideways as Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander seemingly falls over
[9]Controllers getting no response from Lunar Trailblazer orbiter or Odin asteroid mining probe
[10]Intuitive Machines shoots for the Moon with NASA's $4.82B lunar relay jackpot
On the plus side, Altemus said: "We collected the most detailed imagery of the lunar South Pole on mission two," which will feed into Intuitive Machines' software to improve crater tracking.
The next mission is planned for the end of 2025, and the company has updated the spacecraft with lessons learned from previous landings. There will be additional altimeters, a lighting-independent sensor to measure surface velocity, and an updated crater database for navigating the lunar surface.
"We must learn fast, fix what needs fixing, and move forward smarter," said Altemus.
[11]
He noted in the call that Intuitive Machines had approximately $14 million in "success payments" but was still in discussion with its customers, which include NASA, regarding IM-2, which he described as "partially successful." He also said there would be a slight cost increase for the additional sensors, but did not give a figure.
Intuitive Machines will be fervently hoping it will be third time lucky for its lander. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/02/batteries_odysseus/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/athena_moon_probe_dies/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://investors.intuitivemachines.com/events/event-details/intuitive-machines-first-quarter-2025-earnings-conference-call
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/athena_moon_probe_dies/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/intuitive_machines_landing/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/nasa_and_astroforge_missions_prove/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/18/intuitive_machines_lunar_relay/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCUShEfyKu-dPv7f3h4vBgAAAk8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Plan B.
Tron
Have the inside of the spacecraft rotate within the outer shell, so whichever way up it lands, the gubbins inside can rotate, and whichever panels are uppermost can open.
When at first you don't succeed...
Hurn
"Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp.
So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp.
So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.
But the fourth one stayed up." -- M. Python & the Holy Grail
Poor lighting?
DS999
They knew they were landing on the south pole where the sun would cast long shadows. Were they not prepared for that? Maybe they should try to land somewhere easier first??
Mechanical Engineering
Maybe Intuitive Machines should stop designing "intuitively" and hire some mechanical engineers and physicists who understand about the center of mass, moments of inertia, aspect ratios, and can calculate that kind of stuff.
When I worked in SV, "Move fast and break things." had the corollary of "Just don't break things by making obviously stupid mistakes."