Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-07-2025 04:43 PM
Please use this topic to discuss Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander "Athena" and the IM-2 moon landing mission.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-07-2025 04:45 PM
Spent some time this afternoon at Intuitive Machines learning about the IM-2 mission.
On schedule to launch in late February, the IM-2 lander "Athena" will deliver two rovers, a hopper, an ice drill and the first 4G/LTE cellular network demo to the surface of the moon.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-26-2025 05:09 PM
NASA video
Watch Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C moon lander lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IM-2 is scheduled to launch at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC Feb. 27).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-26-2025 07:37 PM
A bit of a nailbiter there as Intuitive Machines' waited for telemetry to start flowing from Athena, but the data did come, crowning a smooth launch! Eight days to the moon...
GACspaceguy Member
Posts: 3178 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
posted 02-27-2025 09:31 AM
The launch could be seen from our yard here in South Georgia. With it being an equatorial trajectory (and what looked like a slight southern inclination), we only captured the last 30 to 45 seconds of the first stage burn.
Second stage could be seen with binoculars until it disappeared into the western horizon and was fun to watch knowing where the ultimate zero velocity location is going to be!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-03-2025 03:31 PM
Intuitive Machines expects a landing opportunity on March 6 at 11:32 a.m. CST (1732 GMT).
Live landing coverage is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. CST (1630 GMT) on the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission page and NASA+. The content on both streams will be identical.
Posts: 1405 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 03-04-2025 09:56 AM
As info, the large crater, with the dark patch, that appears in the lower left corner at 0:17 is Humboldt. It is located on the Eastern limb of the Moon (as seen from Earth) and is about 200km in diameter.
The image sequence from 0 seconds to 20 seconds in this video is from a public affairs camera and is made up of 240 images taken over a mid-latitude region over a 10-minute span. Each picture is shown as one camera frame.
For reference, Athena captured the image sequence starting at 20 seconds over the Moon's south pole region near her intended landing site, Mons Mouton — one of NASA's designated human landing sites for the Artemis campaign.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 06:42 AM
Intuitive Machines live video
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 10:29 AM
Athena is on the surface and generating power. Its status, though, is unclear as manual commands needed to be sent to shut down its engine and landing systems.
Intuitive Machines is gathering more data and (maybe) photos to confirm the lander's orientation.
These photos were taken when Athena was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the surface during its descent today (March 6):
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-06-2025 12:59 PM
From Lunar Outpost:
All indications from our systems at Lunar Outpost show that the MAPP rover is alive and transmitting data from the lunar surface.
A press conference will begin at the top of the hour:
Space Cadet Carl Member
Posts: 308 From: Lake Orion, MI Registered: Feb 2006
posted 03-07-2025 07:03 AM
Steve Altemus put as much of a positive spin on the situation as possible. But the fact remains a lot of what he was gushing about might have been reason to boast a half-century ago, but not as much now.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-07-2025 08:12 AM
Athena's mission is over, having landed in a crater in an orientation such that it cannot recharge.
Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side. After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA's PRIME-1 suite, before the lander's batteries depleted.
With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.
Headshot Member
Posts: 1405 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 03-07-2025 05:25 PM
Is there any idea when LRO might be able to photograph that area?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-25-2025 12:25 PM
NASA release
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Views IM-2 on Moon's Surface
NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Intuitive Machines' IM-2 on the Moon's surface on March 7, just under 24 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Later that day Intuitive Machines called an early end of mission for IM-2, which carried NASA technology demonstrations as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
Above: The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena lander, indicated here with a white arrow, reached the surface of the Moon on March 6, 2025, near the center of Mons Mouton. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the site at 12:54 p.m. EST on March 7. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-14-2025 08:29 AM
Problems with laser altimeters along with lighting and terrain challenges caused Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander to fall on its side when it landed on the moon in March, reports SpaceNews.
One factor was an issue the company previously discussed with the lander's laser altimeters. Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines, said there was "signal noise and distortion" from the altimeters during the lander's final descent "that did not allow for accurate altitude readings."
A second factor was conditions at the south polar region of the moon, where low sun angles cause long shadows that "challenged the precision capability of our landing system." A third, related factor, is that craters appeared differently at lower altitudes, given those lighting conditions, than they did in reference images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, affecting the lander's optical navigation system.
Altemus said the company is incorporating the lessons learned from IM-2 into its next lander mission, IM-3, scheduled for next year. That lander will include dissimilar and redundant altimeters, which will go through more "flight-like" testing ahead of launch. The lander will also have a new lighting-independent sensor to measure surface velocity, and will have an enhanced crater database for improved optical navigation.
Those changes, he said, will not delay the mission. There will be a "slight" increase in cost because of the additional sensors, but he did not quantify the increase.
Axman Member
Posts: 752 From: Derbyshire UK Registered: Mar 2023
posted 05-14-2025 11:51 AM
I would be amazed if Intuitive Machines continue to press the same buttons with only minor adjustments, and actually launch IM-3.
Further on it is stated "The company reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $6.6 million in the [1st] quarter [of 2025]."
This was an earnings call not a report on the flight, they are trying to raise capital. They are also trying to claim $14 million dollars success claim for a probe that landed on its side, and failed to do any basic science in the 12 hours it was alive on the moon.
onesmallstep Member
Posts: 1511 From: Staten Island, New York USA Registered: Nov 2007
posted 05-14-2025 12:16 PM
To be fair; space flight is hard, be it crewed or uncrewed missions. It should be pointed out; U.S. Ranger, Mariner, and Surveyor probes among many failed because of various reasons, either due to mechanical or human error.
Part of the steep learning process when it comes to technology.
Axman Member
Posts: 752 From: Derbyshire UK Registered: Mar 2023
posted 05-14-2025 12:30 PM
I have no doubt that cutting edge, avant-garde techniques in space exploration are, and were, challenging.
However, laser ranging altimeters are hardly that. The company I worked for developed one from scratch in a hand-held portable device to measure the entire infrastructure of the UK railway more than two decades ago. It was then expanded by a team of of less than 10 people to be a train mounted device that could operate at 50 hertz and scan an entire 360 degree radius every 25cm at 60mph. It measured the entirety of the Toronto underground in less than a week to plus or minus 4mm accuracy back in 2007.
Of course there were scatterings - but nothing that couldn't be interpreted instantly. As they say, it's not rocket science.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54562 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-14-2025 02:31 PM
Just because a particular technology has been matured for use on Earth does not mean it will work as well or be as easy to adapt for space-based uses.
Intuitive Machines is not unique in having difficulties with space-based laser technology. There were, I believe, challenges when developing the laser-range systems used for autonomously docking with the International Space Station and a quick web search returns technical papers from various mission designers about the issues they faced when incorporating laser-based systems into interplanetary probes.
It is great to read that your company was able to build a laser altimeter that met its needs in a train yard. Fortunately, they didn't have to take into consideration operating completely autonomously (including troubleshooting its own problems) while being subject to temperatures ranging from -200 to 250 degrees F (-130 to 120 degrees C). Luckily, they also didn't have to deal with cosmic ray and solar radiation, constrained power supplies and efficiency requirements that go beyond what is typically needed for Earth-based systems.
Axman Member
Posts: 752 From: Derbyshire UK Registered: Mar 2023
posted 05-15-2025 09:00 AM
Ah but, it did operate completely autonomously - it was train mounted, but operated on its own power supply without direct human intervention. It not only could and did operate from the frozen wastes of a Norwegian winter through the height of an Australian summer, but also had to contend with snow, fog, and rain, which you tend not to get in space. It didn't need to troubleshoot its own problems - it didn't have any.
It measured, stored and transmitted a complete four-dimensional record of its journey throughout the entire train network it was assigned to. (You could even read the graffiti on the bridges it passed under, and the the depth of the letters on the train station signs it passed by at 60mph. Not photographically, but by the laser ranging dot). Hardly just a train yard!
All IM-2's laser altimeter was required to do was tell its own systems how far off the ground it was, which is a one-dimensional requirement, and apparently it couldn't even do that properly.
If Intuitive Machines concentrated their landing algorithms via Laser Ranging and dumped their Photographic Recognition system, which is by their own admission duped by the extreme lighting and shadow movement of the South Lunar Pole environment, maybe they would get somewhere close to their goal without having to reinvent the wheel.
posted 01-07-2025 04:43 PM
advertisement