Intuitive Machines faced a tense moment while landing its lunar lander Athena, reminiscent of their previous mission with Odysseus. Despite engineers ensuring the function of the laser-based altimeters, the rangefinders produced noisy readings as Athena descended, leaving it effectively blind during landing. While the propulsion system functioned well, the final landing position of Athena remains unclear; readings suggest it might be lying on its side. This uncertainty echoes concerns from past mission failures and raises questions about accuracy and reliability in lunar operations.
After Athena landed, we were able to generate some power from its solar arrays. But precisely where it was, or how it lay on the ground, they could not say.
Our hope was that the signal to noise would improve as we got closer to the Moon; however, it didn't, and Athena went down to the Moon blind.
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