Intuitive Machines reported on the X network that the Athena lander on the IM-2 mission has completed a landing maneuver in lunar orbit. This is the second mission for Intuitive Machines after last year’s partially successful epic with the Odyssey lander. The first attempt ended with the lander tipping over on its side. The second attempt should take into account its errors and land gently near the moon’s south pole.
A photograph of Earth taken from the Athena module. Image credit: Intuitive Machines
The Athena lander was launched into space on February 27, 2025, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer lunar orbiter and AstroForge’s Odin asteroid exploration probe flew with it. Note that NASA Lunar Trailblazer experienced power failures and its restoration is questionable. Yesterday, it flew 457 km above the lunar surface. If communication with it is not fully restored, the probe will fly in a highly elongated orbit around the satellite.
The Odin probe never made contact after launch and is likely considered permanently lost. It will orbit the Sun as dead weight.
Athena completed her scheduled 492-second main engine Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) burn at 6:27 a.m. CST on March 3 and is currently orbiting the Moon. Over the next several hours, flight controllers plan to analyze data to verify the lander’s targeted circular orbit and confirm… pic.twitter.com/vNaxx8pBwx
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But the Athena probe performed three trajectory correction maneuvers on March 1 and 2 on its way to the Moon and fired its main engine for 492 seconds on March 3. The module is expected to make 39 orbits around the satellite, waiting for a window of best illumination of the landing site near the south pole of the Moon. This should happen on March 6. Then the module will land on the surface.
«Athena carries two small rovers, Intuitive Machines’ Grace, a grasshopper, and Lunar Outpost’s MAPP cellular base. The grasshopper will hop to the bottom of craters in search of water ice, while MAPP will communicate with the lander. The lander also carries 10 NASA instruments, including a drill and a soil analyzer.