Fox News: Athena lunar lander makes it to the moon — but its condition remains unknown

[riky]

Athena lunar lander makes it to the moon — but its condition remains unknown

Mission controllers were able to confirm that Athena lunar lander made it to the moon, but they do not know the status of the spacecraft.

                   
                       

A lunar lander made its touchdown You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login earlier on Thursday, but controllers on the ground were unable to confirm the Athena lander's condition upon landing, the Associated Press reported. In addition to its condition, the location of where the craft landed is also unclear.

The lander, which is owned by Intuitive Machines, was carrying an ice drill, a drone and two rovers. Athena was apparently able to communicate with its controllers, the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login reported, citing officials.

Mission director and co-founder Tim Crain was heard telling the team to "keep working on the problem," despite the craft sending apparent "acknowledgments" to the team in Texas.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login ended the online live stream and announced that they would hold a news conference on the status of Athena later on Thursday.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Last year, Intuitive Machine saw its Odysseus lander make it to the moon, only to end up landing sideways, putting extra pressure on today's landing. 

Athena is the second craft to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login this week after Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost made touchdown on Sunday. 

"You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon," Firefly's Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, said. Blue Ghost's landing made Firefly Aerospace the first private company to put a spacecraft on the moon without it crashing or falling over.

Fox News' Landon Minon contributed to this report.

Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login