Athena is a commercially built spacecraft Loaded with leading technology and science experimentsHe has officially failed on the moon, but the operation.
“We don’t think we’re in the right attitude of the moon,” said Steve Alteemus’s General Manager for three and a half hours before Landing Steve Altemus. “I can say, however, that we are loading on the surface (Athens batteries) … We are communicating …. We can send commands to the vehicle.”
Another couple of days can last the Athens to block the exact location on the moon, officials said. Athena, however, is undeniable on the surface of the moon. Firefly has joined the blue ghost of aerospace, another commercial territory made his moon On Sunday-But active active missions of the U.S. moon. Rear back feats are considered a pioneering future for future missions for the moon under the NASA AMERITIO ARTEMIS program.
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Tensions were high near the end of the direct landing party of Athena, without a sudden declaration of the general health of Lander. “We can confirm that Athena is on the surface of the moon,” said Josh Marshall Directors, somewhat about 12:50 minutes after EST-20 minutes after an unhanced time. “We are working to represent the orientation of the vehicle, it is important to determine how many signs of the antenna system will be” to determine the exact orientation of Athena. Later NASA Also confirm On X’s (earlier Twitter) Athena touched on the moon at 12:30, it is planned.
“I think we all agree, especially if the landing on the moon is very hard,” Nicky Fox accepted the Associated Administrator of the NASA Science Mission Management, the same conference. “And (IM-2, the Athens mission) to land in a place where men have not been before. We really hope to work with intuitive machines, in a plan to return data and technology data like we can.”
Unlike the blue ghost 45 day trip to the moonAthena lasted for more than a week. Spaceship launched on February 26 And he entered the lunar orbit on March 3. About three days he orbited the moon (while sending back) Live beauty shots). He then started from the orbit last name in the morning in the morning on March 6th. And at 12:15, Athen began his last maneuvers to the surface. Most of the landing procedures that extend without rafts, there were no decisive ads on the vehicle’s State 12:31 PM EST, and that was landing. In the next 20 minutes, the mission rooms were associated with the activity when scientists and Altetemus operators trying to figure out what is happening.
Somehow, landing attempts Odysseus, Athena’s previous, had the opportunity to receive intuitive machines A rough touch of the moon he hindered its surface operations. Unfortunately, Athena seems to be exposed to a similar fate. It is noteworthy, however, Athena has already led to man, almost southern south southern south. Specifically, to Mons Mouton, the future artemis astronauts can also be a place to land. “We are definitely at Mons Mouton,” confirmed Tim Crain, the main growth of intuitive machines at the press conference.
Athena gives orders to activate and deactivate commands, according to AlTEMO, it means that many Athena’s tasks can be followed as planned. When the exact orientation of Lander becomes clean, it will be discussed in intuitive machines with NASA with priority science and technology goals.
Even if it is likely that his position can reduce his skills, Athena, however, is attracted to the moon in particular a rich range of demonstrations. For example, NASA Prime-1 (Polar resources Ice Mining Experiment 1) A drill and a mass spectrometer, which will chemically examine the samples of the moon, with the crater of ice water and the crater of the South Pole on the Moon. Once these flips, the following missions could potentially mine potential water, breathable air and rocket manufacture potential fuel. And then there is Micro Nova HopperAlong with NASA financing, he also developed intuitive machines, which will show a new way of moon locomotion, a 20-meter depth, constantly looking off the crater.
Other loads are among Nokia Moon surface communication system (LSCS), which uses the 4G / LTE system, to set the cell network between each item of the mission, and a Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) to accurately define the small device on the moon surface accurately. These charges, like territories that went to the moon, reflected Extensive association According to the commercial step by the Space Agency Work Agency (CLPS), between NASA and private industry.
In the next 10 days, both Athena and Blue Ghost aims to act in places: Athena is located next to the South Pole, and the blue ghost is located around Mare Crisium, northeast of the moon northeast. Plants will also be in total Lunar eclipseAs seen from the ground, as the moon passes through the shadow of our planet and earns a heap of blood On the night of 13 March and March 14th morning.
Despite the inconvenience to implement communications, Athena is a successful moon of the CLPS initiative. (First CLPS missions, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander launched after January 2024 Prevented it from reaching the moon.) With all, the CLPS has reserved $ 2.6 billion to get several loads and has launched 2028. Each has been ready to return to their lunar return. Today, NASA has chosen 14 different companies to make the moon for science and technology experiments. For example, some blue loads of Ghost are showing how hardware washed Dusty moon dust and how to run Radiation hardened computers on the surface of the moon.
“With each CLPS mission, the United States expand our scope and carry our skills to establish our skills. Press release This immediately followed Athena when leaving the ground.
The US is not alone in commercial efforts to recover Lunar exploration. The Japanese Resilience Lunar Lander, built by Private Private Companies of Ispace in January, launched along with the Ghost of the Blue, but it is much slower towards the destination. The launch was the first in space-flight history: it was never the three territorial moon at the same time. Meanwhile, other nations, the Chinese, follow the exploration programs of the moon, there the eye of independent human landings.
In addition to NASA’s expenditure power, another important factor behind the sudden spate of moon landing is greater agility of the private sector. Odysseus, for example, left the moon a year earlier than Athenea, giving everything wrong with Odysseus’s landing with little time to deal with problems. Intuitive machines and the aerospace of the firefighters will be equal to IM-3 and Blue Ghost Mission equal to prepare for the same amount of time. The groups behind Athena and Blue Ghost managed to turn around technological reviews, it is an impressive feat Heating more and more Between the US and China, 21. Century lunar race to take lead.
“It is improving and sending the new spacecraft to go to the moon for nine months,” Crain said, compared to Odysseus compared to Odysseus. And in many ways, Athena exceeded expectations, he said. “The future is bright for intuitive machines to land a lot on the moon and lots of loads,” he added Crain.
“These science and technology demonstrations are more than payment: they represent the basis of future explorers that will live and work in the moon,” the petroks said in the last press release. “By joining the American industry, we are driving innovation, strengthening our leadership strengthening space and is preparing to send humans farther to the solar system, including Mars.”
“We will be able to live and work with humans on the surface of Lunar. We can land Mart’s humans,” Clayton Turner, the Associated Administrator of the NASA Technological Space Mission Management, at the same conference. “That work has to start with days like today.”
Editor’s note (25/06/25): This article was edited after entering updates on Athena’s status.
