Intuitive machines touching their land on the surface of the moon, but the lands are shaken

Moon’s commercial tasks with NASA connections are all anger at the present time. Firefly Aerospace holds the moon The mission of the blue ghost is declining On March 2. The intuitive machines were hoping for a similar success in the IM-2 mission Thursday morning. Athena Lander reached the moon, but not everything smoothly went.

By the time Livestream concluded the landing, the intuitive machines confirmed the landing, but two major questions remained. Where did Athens fell? What is the position in it?

“We don’t think we are in the right position on the moon,” Steve Altimos, CEO of Insitivity Machines told a afternoon press conference. The situation indicates Lander’s orientation. It seems likely that the car is not properly straight.

Athens made adjustments during the landing to avoid risks on the surface, which led to uncertainty about his exact position.

“I think we are in the vicinity of the intended landing site,” Altemus said. The orbit of the moon’s survey in NASA will try to get a view of Athens from the top to determine its location.

There are some positive signs. Intuitive machines in contact with Athens and their shipment. Land generates solar energy. Once the company and people classify the attitude of Athens and energy resources, they will put a scientific plan to obtain the maximum benefit from the task.

Athens is expected to send pictures of the surface, which should help the team to determine the direction of Lander.

How to watch IM-2 landing

Most of the landing process went well. Athens remained in contact with the intuitive machines and even sending pictures from the landing.

Covering a live drop in NASA for free NASA flow service in addition to Starting from about an hour before landing. NASA is available through the site or NASA application. The broadcast was also on YouTube If you want to see.

What is IM-2?

Lander Nova-C Lunar Lander, nicknamed Athens, carries a set of science and robots, including a drone, multiple small enthusiasm, and NASA is designed to give up 3 feet below the surface. Lander includes NASA and commercial load.

The task is part of NASA’s lunar loader services program, and it is an effort by the Space Agency to use private companies to send Landers and Rovers to the moon. NASA’s goals in Artemis Moon are to return astronauts to the moon and create a long -term human presence there. IM-2 at the service of that vision.

“Lander carries NASA technology that will measure the potential existence of resources from lunar soil that can be extracted and used by future explorers to produce fuel or breathing oxygen,” The space agency said On Tuesday update.

When did the im-2 fall?

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Athens started on February 26, with the launch of the Florida SPACEX FALCON missile. The intuitive machines targeted the mission dropping at 9:32 am on Thursday. The landing site is located near the southern pole of the moon, a targeted area of ​​NASA for human exploration in the future.

The timing was partially dictated by the availability of sunlight on the moon. Athena Lander uses solar energy. Intuitive machines expect Lander to work for about 10 days if things go well.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the moon to stay

There is another way to interact with the task. COMCAST and MIT Media Lab have cooperated to cover actual time. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology participates in the independent exploration platform for the IM-2 Mission. MAPP is designed to rough terrain using sensors and visual signals.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology To the moon to stay The program includes educational resources and presented a Live broadcast of landing Along with other major events of the task. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was planning for a later living feeding that includes the MAPP ROOR, but it was not known if Rover was able to publish.

Xfinity X1 clients can reach mission resources and live broadcast by saying “to the moon” to the remote control devices.

Why is im-2 important

The satellite missions tend to attract a lot of attention. IM-2 people may not have humans on the plane, but it is worth following with great knowledge. The world of planets, a mitz, a professor of research at the University of Central Florida, highlights the hypertrophic mining experience 1.

Prime-1 aims to measure ice in the moon’s soil, and this is a big problem.

“This ice contains a record of the history of the inner solar system and may help us understand how to deliver water and carbon to the Earth’s one billion years ago, which turns the Earth into a population of housing,” Metzger told CNET. “This is very important to understand the number of other planets that may be able to support life in the galaxy, so it helps in answering the question,” Are we alone in the universe? “You cannot become more deep than that.

NASA hopes to help Prime-1 researchers understand the availability of water. Water is heavy and costly to transport through space, so future human campaigns will want to use what is already on the moon.

It will take some time to determine whether the Prime-1 will be able to implement its goals after the disputed Athens.

The landing on the moon is difficult

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I tried many tasks and failed to fall successfully on the moon. The Russian Luna-25 mission was crashed into the moon in 2023. Bersh’s mission in Israel India Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander Both were crashed in 2019.

“The lands of the moon are difficult, not only because the lunar environment is very harsh and strange, but because we fly a few of them,” said Metzger, noting that the failures are part of learning how to make the ligament of the moon reliable.

It is difficult to fall on the surface of the moon more than Earth.

“The moon has a large weight enough to make it difficult to land quietly, but there is no atmosphere to help slow down one of the parties,” says Josh Kulwell, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Central Florida. “The surface is very rough in all spatial measures, so the shift to a march is a real danger.”

It is not only about good landing devices. The programs and systems on board must analyze the surface to help direct Lander to a safe spot.

Lunar landing, partially due to the risks that the machines must move to ensure a safe landing.

You may wonder what happened to the IM-1 mission. The intuitive machines were delivered Odysseus Lander To the moon in 2024, but not everything is fine. The landing reached the surface, but it ended side by side, and put a perforated on his scientific work.

It is similar to the unexpected ATHENA mode of what happened to IM-2, but the influence on the scientific goals on the task will take time to understand it. There is still hope that she will be able to accomplish some of her intended works.