Intuitive Machines' Athena moon lander is "alive," but it's not yet known what mission objectives can still be met.
Odin, on an asteroid flyby mission that will mark the company’s first attempt to scout for platinum in space. The probe is set to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 26. AstroForge’s ...
"I think we all know the hope is fading as we continue the mission," AstroForge founder Matt Gialich said in a video update on X early Saturday (March 1). "So we're going to keep our head up. We're going to keep trying over the weekend, and we'll see how far we get."
Athena, the private lunar lander from Intuitive Machines, missed its mark while landing on the moon Thursday and ended up sideways in a frigid crater. It did, however, manage to send back pictures confirming its position and activate a few experiments before going silent.
The first commercial spacecraft headed beyond the moon is on its way to deep space, but the mission is suffering from unknown issues as the team scrambles to get in contact with the probe.
A day later, however, NASA shared that mission operators had lost communication with the spacecraft in the wee hours of morning. Lunar Trailblazer had reportedly transmitted telemetry data indicating intermittent power system issues shortly before the communication disruption.