Daniel FischerNow live on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvUCkAUqvI Flight VA263 | CSO-3 | #Ariane 6 | First Commercial Flight I Arianespace
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The #Ariane launch is going well - here booster separation from an onboard camera - and the #Athena webcast on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOPL8nhmQU4 has begun while https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkRSWm0vAaM by #AMSAT-DL streams the signal live from a 20-meter dish in Bochum, Germany.
Intuitive Machines-2 Lunar Landing (Official NASA Broadcast)
So much spaaaaace ... following the Bochum, Athena and Arianespace webcasts simultaneously.
What a bizarre situation ... they have abruptly ABORTED THE WEBCAST of the #Athena landing although it is clear that the lander made it to the surface - they are COMMUNICATING with it - in one piece. But its status (e.g. re. power) and orientation seem to be pretty unclear. No "we made it" or jubilation in mission control at any time - and we are asked to wait for the press conference in three (!) hours to learn more ... unless something interesting appears on IM's social media feeds. D'oh.
At an internal (!) IM-2 landing party it was reported that the lander is active on the surface and power positive but - for whatever reason - the solar arrays aren't generating enough so some hardware had to be shut down: https://x.com/jackiewattles/status/1897724008201961862
Jackie Wattles (@jackiewattles) on X
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just addressed employees at a watch party in Houston. Honfirmed the vehicle is intact, delivering data, generating power — but "not enough," hence Intuitive Machines' efforts to shut down certain components to save energy.
The #Athena post-landing press conference is now streaming on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-mMJxIttBc
Intuitive Machines-2 Lunar Landing News Conference
More than five hours after the landing of #Athena still a strong signal in Bochum. At the press conference no new insights into the attitude of the lander but they'll try to get down pictures of the surroundings to figure it out and the LRO will also have a look. In any case a nominal mission is no longer possible: what can be achieved will only become clear once the attitude of the lander is determined; this also applies to the deployment of the various rovers and hoppers.
The mission of #Athena on the Moon is over - the lander batteries are depleted and no recharging is deemed possible, a sad update on https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-2 just explained. Here is one of a few pictures that could be returned from the surface, proving that IM-2 had fallen over completely (IM-1 was tilted by 30° only); a few other surface operations were achieved as well. On a site closer to the South Pole than any other mission had dared to venture.
In which NASA tries to find something good from the failed #Athena mission: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-receives-some-data-before-intuitive-machines-ends-lunar-mission/ - and contradicts IM, which has said that they "landed 250 meters from its intended landing site" by stating that IM-2 touched down "more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) from its intended landing site."
How cool - and tragic - is this?!? The small Japanese rover #Yaoki that travelled to the #Moon on the ill-fated #Athena lander has been busy *inside* its transport box (that it couldn't leave without Athena's help), taking this picture which shows a slice of Moon through a slit and tried out various mechanics: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000021.000075722.html - had it been deployed to the surface it would probably have worked well.
From the #LPSC 'NASA Night' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns4sVQ81DiI a list of the next #CLPS missions: NASA will have more Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) on #BlueOrigin's HLS test lander. They also reported superb results from #BlueGhost with 6 of the NASA experiments already completed and the remainder being done once the hot noon is over. Not much came out of #Athena, obviously, and they're still trying to make contact with the Lunar Trailblazer - no indication of the hope level ...
Plenary Session: NASA Headquarters Briefing
Here is the ill-fated #Athena lander in the 20 meter lunar crater it ended up in: a new picture from the LRO, https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1409 - see also https://skyweek.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/athena_im_loch.jpg from https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1408 for an earlier side view.