Intuitive machines landed their private Athena probe near the south pole today but the exact fate is unknown . The company confirmed the Athena lander was on the lunar surface but is still working to confirm the orientation. Space.com will simulcast the post-landing news conference at 4 p.m.
Today (March 6), a tiny commercial rover will land near the South Pole of the Moon.
Colorado’s Lunar Outpost’s Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), or MAPP, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida’s Space Coast on February 26. The spacecraft has now been placed in lunar orbit and is preparing to land.
Athena, also known as IM-2 mission, is aiming to land today at 12:32 p.m. EST (1732 GMT), near Mons Mouton in the lunar south polar region. Space.com will be broadcasting the Athena lunar landing live.
(Image credit: Lunar Outpost).
MAPP, also known as Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Voyage 1, will be the first American robot rover to land on the moon. It will be launched from Athena by a mechanism on the lander side. It will then begin working on the lunar surface using a variety of instruments and technologies.
Related to: Private Athena moon-lander will touch down near Moon’s South Pole today: Watch it Live
This four-wheeled vehicle measures 17.7 by 15.7 by 15.7 inches (45, 38, 40 centimeters). It is designed to provide crucial data on the navigability and environment of the moon to guide the design and development of lunar vehicles for NASA’s Artemis and[19459035
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MAPP will facilitate the first commercial sale by collecting a small quantity of lunar regolith. This will be imaged, and sold to NASA at a symbolic $1. This transaction is symbolic but it’s intended to establish a precedent for the use of space resources and open up the door to a lunar economy.
In addition to the Nokia antennas, the rover will also test the Finnish company’s LTE/4G communication system for the Moon. This is one of the 10 payloads on the vehicle from global partners. AstroAnt is a prototype micro swarm robotic system designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It will measure MAPP’s temperature without contact. AstroAnt uses advanced space-grade greases from Castrol. Two other MIT payloads are also aboard the rover, including the Time-of-Flight Depth Camera (for 3D mapping). Adidas and Juventus are also mission partners. Justin Cyrus, CEO of Lunar Outpost, said this ahead of the landing attempt. “These historic accomplishments create real-world lunar infrastructure, resource utilization and planetary mobility — essential steps toward a lasting human presence beyond Earth.”
We established communication with MAPP in orbit at 1:30am UTC!!! MAPP informed us that it had powered on about an hour after its lunar journey began. MAPP will continue to provide real-time data and updates over the next few days. Thank you @SpaceX and @Int_Machine! Follow along for updates! pic.twitter.com/EiCFNCRkQ2
MAPP’s mission lifespan is one lunar day or approximately 14 Earth days. It is powered by solar power, like Athena. It is not expected that it will reactivate due to the low temperatures of the lunar night. Lunar Outpost is developing a range of rovers, including MAPP. The company is also competing for a NASA contract to build a unpressurized lunar rover ahead of the Artemis 5 Mission, currently scheduled for 2020. MAPP isn’t the only mobile spacecraft on Athena. The rocket-powered crater-diving Micro-Nova Hopper, also known as grace will be in action if Athena is able to land on the moon, as well as Yaoki, the small rover made by the Japanese company Dymon.
Andrew, a freelance space reporter, focuses on reporting on China’s rapidly growing space industry. He began writing for Space.com, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic and Sky & Telescope in 2019. Andrew was first bitten by the space bug as a child when he first saw Voyager images showing other worlds within our solar system. Andrew loves trail running in the Finnish forests. Follow him on Twitter: ahref=””https://twitter.com/AJ_FI” “. target=””_blank””>@AJ_FI (19459054]”.
