Houston’s Intuitive Machines Prepares for Lunar Adventure with Second Lander!

In February of last year, the uncrewed Odysseus spacecraft marked a milestone by achieving the first soft landing on the moon’s surface by a commercial entity, and it was the first such landing since the conclusion of the Apollo program in the 1970s.

The lander, crafted by the Houston-based firm Intuitive Machines, tipped over after its laser-driven navigation system did not function as intended, but a majority of its payloads managed to conduct experiments on the moon’s surface.

Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media

Now, close to a year later, Intuitive Machines is gearing up to return with a comparable lander named Athena. This secondary lander represents the latest addition to its contract to construct four vehicles for NASA as part of a program where the space agency collaborates with private companies to execute missions on and around the moon. The aim is to assist NASA in preparing for impending Artemis missions that would send humans back to the lunar surface.

Athena is tentatively scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX rocket in late February.

In a discussion with Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty, the company’s CTO Tim Crain elaborates on what Athena will carry and clarifies how the issues with the initial lander are being tackled.

What’s On Board

This mission, referred to as IM-2, will land roughly 100 km from the lunar south pole. Crain mentioned that the initial mission, IM-1, primarily focused on demonstrating that the company could reach the moon and endure. Now, IM-2 is centered on navigating once there.

Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media

Included among the instruments enabling movement is a small rover measuring approximately 18 inches in length and weighing about 22 pounds. It will be deployed from the craft and perform experiments, subsequently releasing an even smaller rover, weighing roughly 20 grams and similar in size to a Matchbox car. This mini rover is designed for future use in inspecting and maintaining spacecraft.

MORE: Justin Cyrus of Lunar Outpost discusses his mini lunar rover

Additionally, the company will deploy a rocket drone referred to as a “hopper,” which will launch from the side of the lander and leap into a crater that seldom — if ever — receives sunlight.

And, while it will remain stationary aside from the lander, a NASA drill will penetrate the lunar crust in search of water signs.

“We’re going to hop, we’re going to rove, and we’re going to drill,” Crain stated. “It’s going to be quite thrilling.”

NASA/Screen Capture

All these elements that will be moving will require mutual communication. Consequently, cellular provider Nokia will conduct an experiment onboard utilizing 4G cellular signals that will enable these devices to relay information back to the lander, which will function similarly to a small-scale cell tower. This may contribute to the development of future communication systems for crewed missions on the moon.

“In the future, when individuals are conversing directly on the moon in a habitat, in a permanent settlement, this will be the kind of technology they rely on for their communications.”

What’s Different and What Remains the Same

While Athena represents the second of four landers Intuitive Machines is developing for NASA, Crain noted that it is approximately 90 percent identical to the first lander — apart from the payloads affixed to its exterior.

“Overall, it’s fundamentally the same interior-wise regarding propellant, propulsion, computers, and software as the previous mission,” he remarked.

However, modifications include changes to the wiring that governs the laser-guided navigation system and adjustments in testing processes to ensure the system operates correctly before launch.

“These adjustments are easy to implement, but they are details,” he commented. “And aerospace is genuinely a matter of ensuring all the details are accurate to achieve success.”

These enhancements and others are outcomes of what Crain described as a stringent review process after IM-1 to ascertain what was effective and what wasn’t, to benefit future endeavors.

Intuitive Machines