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Altimeter problems, lighting challenges caused IM-2 lunar lander to fall on its side
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13.5.2025
SpaceNews · Altimeter problems, lighting challenges caused IM-2 lunar lander to fall on its side
#intuitivemachines
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So the moon lander is toast, tipped over in a crater.
The part that gets me is this quote:
"The bigger, four-wheeled rover never made it off the fallen lander, but data beamed back indicates it survived and could have driven away had everything gone well"
The thing should've had an explosive emergency deploy, and a tow hitch and four-way flashers and they could've had it drag the failed lander back to a good location and orientation. Beep, beep, beep, "backing up here."
Another one bites the (Moon)dust!
This is Intuitive Machines' #IM2 lander that once again toppled over after trying to land on Mons Mouton near the lunar south pole.
The picture had lots of detail hidden in the shadows which I brought out in processing.
Continued thread
#Athena came to rest inside a crater, 250m from its intended target. “With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the #solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, #IntuitiveMachines does not expect Athena to recharge 
”. Issues with Athena’s laser altimeter may have contributed to the bad landing https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-company-says-moon-mission-over-after-landing-sideways-again
The Straits Times · US company says moon mission over after another sideways landingIt comes just days after Texas rival Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on its first attempt. Read more at straitstimes.com.
"A private lunar lander is no longer working after landing sideways in a crater near the moon’s south pole and its mission is over, officials said Friday. The news came less than 24 hours after the botched landing attempt by Texas-based Intuitive Machines. ... 'The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission,' the company said in a statement."
Continued thread
"Private lunar lander, with help from Columbia Sportswear, touches down on moon, but status is unknown" by AP via KGW News (NBC Portland) - Second lunar probe landing attempt by #IntuitiveMachines sent no telemetry so far after touchdown. Portland OR area watching again because insulating covers are made by Columbia Sportswear using space blankets they adapted from spacecraft tech for winter jackets, now back to use in space. https://www.kgw.com/article/tech/science/aerospace/private-lunar-lander-columbia-sportswear-touches-down-on-moon-status-unknown/283-bac1e15e-2a4a-4ed6-8551-069d73235671 #NewSpace #Moon #space #science #business #PNW
Just hearing a bit of the #intuitiveMachines press conference.
They're still not sure if they are upright or not. One bit of data - from the "Inertial measurement unit" suggests they are on their side. Some rocket engine data suggested they were upright.
Good data comms apparently, so they'll be able to do some things.
Continued thread
#Athena was communicating with controllers and generating solar power, officials said. But 20 minutes after touchdown, Crain still was unable to confirm if everything was all right with the lander. #NASA and #IntuitiveMachines abruptly ended their live landing webcast, promising more updates at a news conference later in the afternoon https://apnews.com/article/moon-landing-nasa-intuitive-machines-athena-cf4a88baa6644fb381dbaea497001d51
Coverage is ending.
More info to be shared later I guess.
Sounds like they're getting some power generation, so panels must be getting sunlight. They're also powering things down to limit power use.
Can someone get a message to NASA to cut this guy's microphone? They keep talking over all the interesting stuff.
"We're on the surface, let's evaluate."
Hmm, engine is also still running? This means it's upright, apparently.
Engine is idling with good chamber pressure? Is the thing hovering there refusing to land?
Continued thread
Missing parts of the signal. That doesn't sound very good. Getting random bits.
Could be it's tipped over, as one might expect.
Sounds like it's possibly on the moon. But is it functional and right side up?
Here's Hoping!
About 3min to landing of that moon lander
Diappointed there's no live views from on-board cameras.
I guess they'll upload all the cam views later. A little less exciting.
This NASA coverage is a little less like the enthusiasm of the high school glee club (like SpaceX) but they are also suffering from the problem of "oh my god stop talking."
They are constantly saying pointless things over the audio of the operations people which we'd like to hear.
The engines are firing to bring the craft down to the moon's surface.
Exciting to see it come together.
90 seconds to the landing burn.