**Exploring New Frontiers with Athena: The Next Lunar Mission**
In a remarkable era of space exploration, two robotic landers, one from the United States and another from Japan, are on their way to the moon. This week, a new contender will join this lunar pursuit: the spaceship known as Athena. Developed by Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based private sector company, Athena has made waves as the only private entity that has previously achieved a successful moon landing.
Athena is slated for launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday at 7:17 PM ET. The launch will be streamed live on NASA+, showcasing the evolving nature of space exploration to the public. The mission, designated IM-2, aims to land near the moon’s elusive south pole, a region that has drawn significant interest from scientists because it is believed to contain substantial reserves of water ice. This water ice could serve several critical purposes, including air, drinking water, and even life-sustaining rocket fuel.
The lunar landing is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. To undertake the ambitious mission, Intuitive Machines designed Athena to be equipped with advanced technology, including a drill and robotic equipment that will facilitate an extensive survey of the moon’s surface, looking specifically for signs of water.
Steve Altemus, cofounder and CEO of Intuitive Machines, has described this mission as highly dynamic due to its complexity and multiple components at play. Athena’s six-legged lander, comparable in size to a telephone booth, will take approximately a week to make its way to the moon. Unlike other recent lunar missions, the trajectory of Athena is specifically optimized for a daring descent.
The history of Intuitive Machines cannot be overlooked when discussing Athena’s upcoming journey. Last year, the company’s initial lunar lander, dubbed Odysseus or “Odie,” marked a significant milestone by safely landing on the moon. The success of Odie stands out, especially considering that about half of all lunar landers have failed to reach their destination or have crashed—an indication of the challenges posed by lunar missions.
However, Odie’s journey was not entirely smooth; technical issues arose prior to landing, requiring the team to use an experimental NASA payload for navigational support. Ultimately, Odie managed to touch down on the lunar surface near a crater but ended up tipping over. Nevertheless, the mission collected valuable data despite this mishap, providing critical learnings for Athena’s upcoming IM-2 mission.
Athena’s landing represents a significant advancement over Odie, as it carries additional instruments and robots designed to perform detailed geological analyses. After launching, Athena will embark on what Altemus characterizes as a “high-energy fastball pitch” towards the moon. This journey will not only involve navigation through space but also navigating a solar eclipse, causing the spacecraft to momentarily lose power.
The journey will culminate in a recent heightened accuracy requirement; Athena will need to target a landing zone with precision as noticeable as within a 50-meter radius, significantly tighter than the previous kilometer margin of error from Odie’s mission. The chosen landing site, Mons Mouton, is positioned near the lunar south pole and features an advantageous mix of sunlight and shade, a critical factor for a successful exploratory mission.
Scientists and engineers have pointed out that while many regions in the lunar south pole remain in perpetual darkness—ideal for preserving water ice—landing safely poses a unique challenge due to the rough terrain and craters. Thus, an enhanced navigation system will be vital to ensure Athena can safely navigate and gather valuable information.
Upon arrival on March 6, the real work for Athena will begin. The team will immediately initiate a campaign to drill into the lunar surface, seeking to penetrate depths of up to one meter to look for water ice. The mission will also see the deployment of a variety of robotic assistants, including Micro Nova Hopper, which will hop across the surface to gather more data, as well as a rover from Lunar Outpost. This rover aims to trial cellular network technology on the moon, a project supported by Nokia.
The Athena IM-2 mission promises an intense schedule and high stakes, with a mission duration anticipated to last around 10 days. The team at Intuitive Machines is prepared to confront the challenges ahead, driven by a passion for discovery and a desire to capitalize on the learnings from their prior missions. “It’s going to be very dynamic,” Altemus emphasized, setting the tone for a mission that could pave the way for future lunar explorations.