Intuitive Machines' second Moon mission seems to have gone as well as the first

The second lunar lander by Intuitive Machines has made its way to the Moon, but not without incident. The Athena vehicle may not be upright, which is what happened to the company’s Odysseus lander upon touchdown back in February. CEO Steve Altemus said during the post-landing news conference that he doesn’t believe that Athena is “in the correct attitude on the surface of the Moon yet again.” Altemus said that the company will know for sure in the coming days once the team gets “a picture from the lunar reconnaissance orbital camera from above.” Data from the lander’s inertial measurement unit does seem to indicate a sideways orientation. We do know that Athena has touched down approximately 100 miles from the lunar south pole, which is where it's supposed to be. Athena is part of the company’s IM-2 mission, which is a partnership with NASA to (finally) bring crewed missions back to the Moon. The lander also carries a bevy of payloads and scientific instruments designed to look for e ... Read full article.