Nasa-partnered private US lander Athena touches down on Moon

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander approaching the floor of the moon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Nasa through AP)

A private US lander landed on the Moon on Thursday, however floor management groups are nonetheless working to examine its standing, together with whether or not it’s upright, an organization spokesman stated on Thursday.
“Athena is on the surface of the Moon,” stated Josh Marshall of Houston-based Intuitive Machines throughout a webcast, information company AFP reported, about 20 minutes after the robotic landed close to the lunar south pole. “We are working to figure out the orientation of the vehicle,” he added.
The lander’s vacation spot is Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain about 100 miles from the moon’s south pole. That is nearer to the moon’s south pole than any earlier spacecraft has landed.
After changing into the first private firm to land on the Moon final 12 months, Intuitive Machines aimed for its second lunar touchdown on Thursday, carrying payloads to assist future human missions.
The spacecraft, named Athena, is sort of the identical as Odysseus, the lander Intuitive Machines despatched to the Moon final 12 months. Odysseus was the primary commercially operated car to land on the Moon, nevertheless it tipped over shortly after touchdown.
The 15.6-foot (4.8-meter), hexagonal Athena lander is in regards to the peak of a giraffe.
Intuitive Machines’ February 2024 touchdown was partly affected when the lander tipped over, a problem the corporate hopes to keep away from this time.