Intuitive Machines’ Athena Lander Shares First Selfies from Lunar Orbit
Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines achieved a significant milestone in its lunar exploration program as its Athena lander, part of the IM-2 mission, transmitted its first images from orbit. These "selfies," captured after launching from Florida on Wednesday night, provide a stunning view of the six-legged Nova-C lander against the backdrop of Earth. The images, released Thursday morning, mark a pivotal moment in the burgeoning commercial space race and the renewed focus on lunar exploration.
The Athena spacecraft embarked on its journey aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, a site steeped in history as the launchpad for the Apollo moon missions. The launch, which occurred at 7:16 p.m. EST on Wednesday, proceeded smoothly, and the spacecraft achieved its intended orbit approximately 44 minutes later. Shortly thereafter, at 8:17 p.m., Intuitive Machines confirmed that the lander had successfully established communication with mission controllers on the ground.
The early success of the Athena mission is a testament to the growing capabilities of commercial space companies like Intuitive Machines. These companies are playing an increasingly vital role in supporting NASA’s ambitious goals for lunar exploration and beyond. The Athena lander is one of two American-made uncrewed lunar landers currently en route to the moon’s surface. The other, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft, is also Texas-based and is scheduled to attempt a landing early Sunday after a 45-day voyage.
NASA is the primary customer for both commercial spaceflights, highlighting the agency’s strategic reliance on partnerships with the private sector. The data collected by these landers will be crucial in studying different regions of the moon’s surface, which will pave the way for astronauts to return as early as 2027 under the agency’s Artemis program. NASA views the moon as a vital stepping stone for future crewed missions to Mars, envisioning it as a pit stop for spacefarers to pause, refuel, and prepare for the challenges of deep-space exploration.
If all goes according to plan, the Athena lander is slated to touch down on the moon’s south pole on Thursday, March 6. This region is of particular interest to scientists because it is believed to contain significant deposits of water ice. This ice could be a valuable resource for future lunar missions, providing water for drinking, oxygen for breathing, and hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus expressed his excitement about the mission’s progress, stating that Athena’s journey is a signal that lunar services are rapidly advancing, potentially enabling the establishment of a permanent foothold on the moon and opening doors for further exploration of the Solar System.
In addition to Athena, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, which launched as a rideshare payload on the same Falcon 9 rocket, has also embarked on its own separate journey to lunar orbit. The Lunar Trailblazer is designed to map the distribution of different forms of water on the moon.
The IM-2 mission is specifically targeting a landing near a plateau known as Mons Mouton, located even further south than the landing site of Intuitive Machines’ first lander, Odysseus, which made history in February 2024. Mons Mouton is a mesa-like lunar mountain surrounded by craters, including the Shackleton Crater, a permanently shadowed region believed to harbor abundant water ice and other volatile materials.
The primary experiment onboard Athena is NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1). This dual-instrument package, consisting of a drill and a mass spectrometer, will excavate and analyze lunar soil (regolith) to detect the presence of gases and other potentially accessible resources. The data gathered by PRIME-1 will be critical in determining the feasibility of extracting water ice from the lunar south pole.
Beyond PRIME-1, the Athena mission has additional objectives, including testing a Nokia LTE 4G communications system and deploying a propulsive drone capable of hopping across the lunar surface. These experiments are aimed at developing new technologies that could support future lunar exploration efforts.
The successful launch and initial operations of the Athena lander represent a significant step forward in the commercialization of space and the renewed focus on lunar exploration. As NASA and its commercial partners continue to push the boundaries of space technology, the dream of establishing a permanent presence on the moon is moving closer to reality. The insights gained from missions like Athena will be invaluable in preparing for the return of astronauts to the lunar surface and ultimately, for the first crewed missions to Mars.
