The robotic probe Athena made its final descent and landed on the surface of the moon, marking the Second Alunition of a US company this week . However, the orientation of the module is still unknown.
The Houston-based intuitive Machines, which last year became the first private company landing a soft vehicle on the moon, said the Athena spacecraft should play the lunar soil around 11:31 am (US) on Thursday (6).
The company confirmed that Athena is on the moon and that the mission control team was able to communicate with the probe during the live broadcast of the event, held in partnership with NASA.
“The team is in the process of turning off systems that are not needed,” said Josh Marshall, director of communications at Intuitive Machines. “We are working to find out the orientation of the vehicle, which is important, because it affects our antenna systems, determining signal quality and when we can start receiving vehicle health data and images that will help us confirm the landing.”
In addition, the vehicle is detecting the moon movement, explained Tim Crain, director of technology at Intuitive Machines.
“We are on the surface. Now, let’s evaluate. ”
If successful, the 4.6-meter tall Athena probe will have joined another lunar module developed by a Texan company-Firefly Aerospace, based on Cedar Park, outside Austin-on the moon surface.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost vehicle landed safely and vertically on Sunday morning (2).
Both Athena and Blue Ghost should operate on the next side of the moon, but the two modules will be separated by approximately 3,200 kilometers. Blue Ghost landed near Lunar Ecuador, while Athena is located near the South Lunar Pole – closer than any astronaut or vehicle has been before.
Alunitions are extremely complex challenges. About half of all attempts, including those conducted by government agencies and private companies, ended in failure.
In the early hours of Thursday, Athena completed a motor burning that placed it on an exit trajectory of the lunar orbit towards the surface, according to Intuitive Machines. Then the module entered a coast period (without propulsion) for about an hour. Then he began his final descent, using sensors and cameras to navigate the latter full of craters.
During this phase, the probe reduced its speed dramatically, reducing about 6,400 km/h (1,800 meters per second) before touching the lunar ground.
The southern pole of the moon is considered a crucial region in the current space race, as scientists believe there are large deposits of water ice. This ice could be converted to drinking water, breathable oxygen or even fuel for rockets, enabling even deeper missions in space.
Athena should land on a 100 km diameter plateau, called Mons Mouton, located approximately 160 km from the lunar south pole.
Athena’s mission has an exploratory character. The module will use a set of robotic equipment – including a drill, a hopper (jumping vehicle) and a Rover – to analyze the area and confirm the presence of water of water in the region.
Lander should operate for 10 days until the arrival of the lunar night plunges him into the darkness, making him inoperative.
A chance of redemption
Before Intuitive Machines made history last year with the successful landing of its first Lander, Odysseus (nicknamed “Odie” by the team), only a few government spatial agencies had achieved this feat. Until then, the United States, China, India, Japan, and the former Soviet Union were the only ones to perform successful alunissions.
But Odie’s journey, which also explored the region near the South Lunar hub, was not perfect. Before landing, the mission teams found that the laser altimeter, designed to help navigation through the lunar ground and precisely measure altitude, was not correctly connected.
This error forced Intuitive Machines to depend on an experimental charge load of NASA, which was luckily on board to provide navigation support to the lunar surface.
In the end, Odie toppled sideways during the landing, leaving his communication antennas and poorly positioned solar panels. As a result, Lander turned off days ahead of expected, reducing the mission’s operating time.
THE FIREFLY AERASPACE made a brief reference to the incorrect guidance of Odie during the live broadcast of his own lunar landing this week, declaring that his module Blue Ghost it was the “First fully successful commercial vehicle” landing on the moon.
Still, the two companies demonstrated mutual support.
“I’ll tell you something that is more exciting now than at any other moment in history: the number of missions going to the moon,” Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, told CNN in February. “Two Texas companies sending landing modules to the moon, which theoretically will be operating simultaneously on different missions – this is simply amazing for the United States.”
Firefly and Intuitive Machines are both hired from NASA through the Lunar Payload Services (PLCs) program. The purpose of CLPS is to encourage private industry to develop low -cost robotic ships to explore the lunar surface before the arrival of NASA astronauts, scheduled for the end of this decade.
Mission Artemis III NASA has as its objective land humans on the moon For the first time in over more than fifty years with forecast for mid -2027 .
Athena Na Moon Mission
A few hours after landing, Athena should release a Rover called Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (Mapp), developed by the Lunar Outpost company, based in Colorado. The 4 -wheel and 10 kg Rover has several functions, including:
- Test new cellular communication equipment;
- Create a 3D map of the lunar surface;
- Take pictures.
Rover is also designed to collect a small sample of lunar soil. Although the sample, like Rover Mapp, remains on the moon indefinitely, NASA agreed to pay symbolic $ 1 to take over the sample property. This gesture represents the first commercial sale of space resources in history.
Lunar Outpost CEO Justin Cyrus told CNN that NASA’s $ 1 is the only government financing the company will receive for this mission.
“This is our first attempt, and the fact that this Rover is totally commercially funded with NASA’s literally $ 1… This is already a great starting point,” said Cyrus.
Following the launch of the Mapp, Lander Athena will release a miniature hopper – a type of ship designed to jump out of the landing site and explore a lunar crater in search of water. This vehicle was developed by Intuitive Machines with NASA funding.
However, the main payload aboard the Athena is NASA’s Prime-1 drill, which is designed to pierce the lunar surface, look for water ice and analyze the soil while moving forward.
If the Prime-1 can locate water just below the lunar surface, that would be “extremely exciting,” Siegfried Eggl, assistant professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Urbana-Champaign, told CNN this week.
“If the drill finds some water -rich material right (close) from the surface, that would be the ideal scenario,” said Eggl. “Because that would mean that wherever you go to the South Pole, you wouldn’t have to go down to the craters. You could probably extract water very quickly. ”
When was the last trip to the moon and why does the lunar program end?
This content was originally published in Athena Probe of the Intuitive Machines lands on the surface of the moon on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
