Trade Moon missions with NASA connections are all rage now. Firefly Aerospace stuck the lunar landing of its Ghost Blue mission on March 2. Intuitive machinery hoped for a success similar to his MY-2 mission Thursday morning. Athena Lander made it on the surface of the moon, but the company is still appreciating the success of the landing.
At the time Livestream Livestress ended, intuitive cars confirmed the touch and that the vehicle was generating solar power. The big question is Athena’s orientation and if she landed in a stable, straight position. Expect an update on the health of the vehicle later today.
How to review the landing of IM-2
The landing seemed to go well. A radio lost the connection, but Athena remained in contact with intuitive machines. Lander even sent images from the deduction process.
NASA broadcast live landing coverage on its free NASA Plus service starting about an hour before touch. NASA Plus is available through the NASA website or app. The broadcast was also on YouTube if you want to reassess.
A press conference after Earth is planned for 1 afternoon PT.
What is im-2?
Nova-C Lunar Lander Intuitive Machines, nicknamed Athena, carries a set of scientific instruments and robots, including a quick drone, numerous small rovers and a NASA-S drill designed to scratch 3 meters below the surface. Lander transport includes both NASA and commercial loads.
The mission is part of the NASA’s Payload commercial service program, an attempt by the Spatial Agency to use private companies to send landers and rovers to the moon. NASA’s biggest goals through its program Artemis Moon are the return of astronauts to the lunar surface and create a long-term human presence there. IM-2 is in the service of this vision.
“Lander is holding NASA technology that will measure the possible presence of resources from the lunar soil that can be extracted and used by future explorers to produce fuel or oxygen in breath,” the space agency said in an update on Tuesday.
When is the landing of my moon-2?
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My-2 mission sent some views of the land after starting in February.
Athena’s trips began on February 26 with a departure on a spacex rocket Falcon 9 from Florida. Intuitive machines target the mission decrease by 9:32 AM PT on Thursday. The landing site is near the south pole of the moon, a target region of NASA for future human exploration.
Time was partially dictated by the availability of sunlight on the surface of the moon. Athena Lander uses solar energy. Intuitive machinery expect Lander to operate for about 10 days if everything goes well.
MIT is on the moon to stay
There is another way to engage with landing and mission. The Xfinity of Comcast and MIT Media Lab are joined for real -time coverage. MIT is included in the autonomous platform of the autonomous forecast of the MIST-2 mission mission. MAPP is designed to navigate the broken terrain using sensors and visual signs.
The MIT program on the moon to stay contains educational resources and gave a direct landing stream along with other major events from the mission. Look for a later direct food that includes MAPP Rover and photos and videos from the lunar surface.
Xfinity X1 customers can enter the mission’s resources and livestreams saying “for the moon” in their voice remote controls.
Why im-2 is important
Krewed space missions tend to attract a lot of attention. IM-2 may not have people on board, but it is worth following for fascinating science. Planetary scientist Phil Metzger, a research professor at the University of Central Florida, underlines the ICE mines of the polar resources of mission 1.
Prime-1 aims to measure the ice on the moon soil, and this is a big deal.
“That ice contains a record of the history of the internal solar system and can help us understand how water and carbon were delivered to the Earth’s moon system billions of years ago, turning Earth into a habitable planet,” Metzger Cnet tells. “This is essential to understand how many other planets may be capable of supporting life in galaxy, so it helps answer the question,” are we in the cosmos? ““ You can’t get deeper than that.
NASA hopes that Prime-1 will help researchers understand water availability. The water is heavy and expensive to transport through space, so future human expeditions will want to use what is already on the moon.
Landing on the moon is hard
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Athena sent a lunar selfie again while in orbit around the moon.
Many missions have tried and failed to successfully land on the moon. Russia’s Luna-25 mission crashed on the moon in 2023. The Bersheetet mission of Israel and Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander of India crashed in 2019.
Much is much harder to touch below the moon than on Earth.
“The moon has a big enough gravity to make it challenging to descend softly, but no atmosphere to help slow down a land,” says Josh Colwell, the associate dean of the Central Florida University. “The surface is very rough at all spatial stairs, so connecting a land is a real danger.”
It is not just about having good landing equipment. Software and on board systems should analyze the surface to help lead the land in a safe place.
Lunar discounts are exciting, partly due to the risks that cars have to navigate to provide a safe obstacle.
You may wonder what happened to my 1 mission. The intuitive machinery handed over to Odysseus Lander on the moon in 2024, but not everything went well. Lander made it to the surface, but ended up, placing a break in his scientific work. The company is rooting for a soft landing, right for IM-2. We need to know soon if you pulled it.