Intuitive Machine's Athens Lander Lands In A Tilt Position On The Moon

Athens as it wants to land on the Moon (photo: NASA's webcast)

JAKARTA Intuitive Machine has made the same mistake in this exploration mission to the Moon. The Athens lander has arrived in the south pole region, but the vehicle did not land straight away.

In a briefing that took about three and a half hours after the IM-2 mission ended, Intuitive Machine Chief Executive Steve Rotemus said that the Athens ride was likely to land in a rather oblique state.

"We have been very successful to this point, but, I have to tell you that we are not sure that we have the right attitude on the surface of the moon," Steve said, quoted by Spacenews on Friday, March 7.

However, the company is still not sure about this position. Steve explained that the data of the two technicians got contradicted each other. First data shows that the engine is running in silent mode so the ride should be upright.

However, data from the inertial measurement unit (IMU) shows that the lander's vehicle actually arrives at the surface of the Moon in a sloping position. If it is tilted, the Intuitive Machine also doesn't know why it happened.

This problem needs to be investigated further to find out whether Athens's activities and its instruments can be disrupted. Most likely, the slope of the lander's vehicle can affect NASA's boron distribution.

It is also not yet known whether this will affect fire vehicles and their two small explorers. Although Intuitive Machine still looks optimistic, the company's investors show the opposite. The company's shares fell by 20 percent on March 6.