Intuitive Machines’ Athena Lander Launches on Journey to the Moon

Intuitive Machines landed a robot on the moon last year. Can the Houston company do it again, but keep the spacecraft upright this time?

The company’s second lander, named Athena, launched on Wednesday evening on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is now on an arcing path to the moon.

The spacecraft turned itself on, but then several minutes of suspense followed when it was late to check in. Eventually, data from the probe arrived, accompanied by relief at Intuitive Machines’ mission control.

On March 6, the spacecraft will attempt to land in Mons Mouton, a region about 100 miles from the moon’s south pole. That will be closer to the south pole than any previous spacecraft has landed.

When Intuitive Machines’ first lander, Odysseus, set down on the moon in February last year, it managed to communicate with Earth even though it had toppled on its side. It was the first commercially operated lander to reach the moon’s surface, and the first American vehicle to land softly on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.