The private American company Intuitive Machines has landed its Athena spacecraft near the South Pole of the moon, but it fears that the craft is not in the correct position (it is not upright).
The spacecraft is communicating with Earth, but it doesn't have the "right attitude," according to the CEO of Intuitive Machines. The company hopes, however, that the craft's scientific instruments can still be developed, including a hopping robot and the first lunar antenna for mobile communications.
It is the second time that a spacecraft of Intuitive Machines has landed incorrectly on the Moon.
See also: Blue Ghost: Impressive photo of the sunrise from the moon!
The company is working with NASA to search for evidence of water and ice on the lunar surface, as the US agency aims to send humans back to the moon in the coming years.
The space vehicle Athena landed on the moon about 160 kilometers from the South Pole, in an area called Mons Mouton.
Intuitive Machines says the lunar reconnaissance orbiter camera will take a picture of Athena in the coming days to calculate the craft's precise position.
Athena is designed to have 10 days to complete observations and measurements with scientific instruments. One is a jumping robot called the Micro Nova Hopper, or Grace. It is designed to hop and fly across the lunar surface to reach a large crater nearby. It is estimated that after five jumps it will be inside the crater and a camera will capture the first images of the interior. The crater is in permanent shadow, so it has very low temperatures and is considered an ideal place to search for ice. Intuitive Machines says this robot is well-suited for the lunar environment.
See also: China: Flying robot will search for water on the far side of the moon
The spacecraft Athena also carries three scientific instruments of NASA:
- A drill called Trident can open up rocks to reach the surface beneath the Moon and search for ice.
- A mass spectrometer that could analyze any gases released.
- A type of antenna developed with Nokia that will use the same 4G cellular technology as on Earth.
The mission aims to assess the viability of the Moon's South Polefor future human settlements, explore options for building settlements, and discover whether there are water reserves that could provide drinking water and possibly be converted into oxygen.
See also: New evidence for the largest crater on the moon!
NASA is working with a number of private companies to transport spacecraft and instruments to the Moon, saying it is cheaper than developing and launching their own missions.
With China and Russia planning lunar bases, a successful private U.S. mission near the South Pole would strengthen American leadership in space.
Source: www.bbc.com
