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Athena spacecraft lands on moon but struggles with undiagnosed problem
- The Athena robotic spacecraft landed on the moon but faced an undiagnosed problem with its orientation on the surface.
- Mission managers were uncertain about the extent of the issue affecting Athena and its payloads after landing on the high mountain Mons Mouton near the moon's south pole.
- The Odysseus spacecraft by Intuitive Machines faced a similar problem earlier when it skidded and tipped over on the lunar surface.
- Athena's landing was off nominal, leading engineers to work with NASA to identify high-priority science objectives with the compromised power generation and communications.
- The Athena probe aimed to deploy NASA's Trident drill to access water-rich areas near the moon's south pole.
- If operational, Athena may witness a lunar eclipse and shut down days later, along with Blue Ghost lander, both positioned to observe the event.
- Nasa's CLPS program seeks private industry involvement for lunar missions, aiming to put the first woman and person of color on the moon by mid-2027 under the Artemis program.
- The Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander, another CLPS-funded mission, achieved the most successful private landing on the moon in Mare Crisium.
- An upcoming lunar mission includes the first commercial rover, Mapp, to sell a lunar regolith sample to NASA for $1, marking a milestone in space commerce.
- Nasa is set to launch the SPHEREx and Punch spacecraft missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base, focusing on mapping the sun's corona and observing galaxies in the cosmos.
- Amid uncertainties in Nasa's moon missions, there is speculation about the future of its Space Launch System rocket program versus SpaceX's Starship rockets and reported layoffs in the space agency.
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