Dead Athena Moon Lander Seen Inside Its Crater Grave From Lunar Orbit (space.com)
- Reference: 0176725289
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/15/0447257/dead-athena-moon-lander-seen-inside-its-crater-grave-from-lunar-orbit
- Source link: https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/dead-athena-moon-lander-seen-inside-its-crater-grave-from-lunar-orbit-photos
> Athena, the second lunar lander from Houston company Intuitive Machines, tipped over during its [1]touchdown on March 6 , ending up on its side within a small crater near the moon's south pole. This orientation prevented the lander's solar panels from capturing enough sunlight, and Intuitive Machines [2]declared Athena dead on March 7. (The company's first moon lander, named Odysseus, [3]also tipped over during its historic February 2024 touchdown but was able to operate for longer on the lunar surface.)
>
> Athena beamed home a few shots of its surroundings before giving up the ghost. And we now have [4]views of the lander and its crater grave from on high , courtesy of NASA's sharp-eyed Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). On March 7, LRO captured a [5]gorgeous oblique photo of Athena and its landing site -- the Mons Mouton region, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the lunar south pole. Then, three days later, the probe snapped [6]another pic , which provided a closer look at Athena on the shadowed floor of a 65-foot-wide (20 meters) crater.
[1] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/07/1321219/intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-reaches-moon-status-uncertain
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/08/0145217/athena-spacecraft-declared-dead-after-toppling-over-on-moon
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/02/24/007214/odysseus-moon-lander-tipped-over-on-touchdown
[4] https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/dead-athena-moon-lander-seen-inside-its-crater-grave-from-lunar-orbit-photos
[5] https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1408
[6] https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1409
Probably multiple reasons for the failure. (Score:2)
There are probably multiple reasons for the failure.
1. Touchdown while there still was a horizontal movement.
2. Insufficient surveying for a good landing spot.
3. Too high center of gravity on the probe relative to the spread of the support legs.
In the end it comes down to trying to make it cheap.
Re: Probably multiple reasons for the failure. (Score:2)
Plus the repeated problems with the altimeter. After the first time, there was really no excuse for the second failure.
Still, it's nice to have commercial efforts.
Re: (Score:2)
To me it looks like it landed on the side of a crater.
Re: (Score:2)
4. No current automated system could land on an uneven surface with multiple craters in the landing zone.
Re: (Score:2)
a. Airbags would not be effective on the moon because of differences in gravity and atmosphere.
b. The uneven surface would confuse the laser altimeter.
c. The computer would not know, to not land in a crater.
RIP (Score:1)
o7
Money laundering (Score:1)
It feels like a fraud. They are doing it second time, as I heard, and fail the same way.
Sending a vertical tower to another planet with a soft dusty surface and expect it to stand vertically, even though it had already tipped over before... I am not sure what to say. Probably, they need to try that again.
On the other hand, if it is an empty shell, and was never expected to survive... That could make a nice money laundering scheme..
Re: (Score:2)
Basic investigation and cross check with supplier sales would reveal the fraud. Plus Intuitive Machines has too many employees to keep that big a scam. They'd need to have made sure everyone they hired was going to not figure out the fraud or whistleblow. Even a basic investigation would cause the whole thing to unravel.
So they are always 90 degrees off. Big deal. (Score:2)
Next time just ask them to TRY to land one on its side. That should fix the problem.
Re: (Score:2)
I guess all the photos of the lunar landers taken from orbit since were faked too along with the laser reflectors they placed on the surface that are still being used for ranging?
Lets all agree you're a tin foil hat idiot and move on shall we?
I can't see anything. (Score:2)
Even with the arrow pointing at it in the first picture I see nothing there.
Very unfortunate (Score:1)
I hope they have the resources to try again, hopefully with an approach that offer much less chance of tipping.