Live updates: Intuitive machines Athena lander reaches the moon, but its status is unclear | CNN

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander reaches the moon, but its status is unclear

Jackie Wattles

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

Updated 12:06 AM EST, Fri March 7, 2025

A model of the lander in HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program by "ispace" is pictured at a venue to monitor its landing on the Moon, in Tokyo, Japan, April 26, 2023.

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Lunar landers seek to bring tech and art to the moon

1:13 • Source: CNN

A model of the lander in HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program by "ispace" is pictured at a venue to monitor its landing on the Moon, in Tokyo, Japan, April 26, 2023.

Lunar landers seek to bring tech and art to the moon

1:13

What we covered here

• Houston-based company Intuitive Machines put its Athena spacecraft on the moon around 12:31 p.m. ET, but the lander’s exact status is currently unclear.

• Mission teams believe the spacecraft likely landed in an incorrect orientation that could prevent it from fully completing its mission.

• If successful, Athena would be the second US-made spacecraft to land on the moon this week. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace landed its Blue Ghost on Sunday.

• Athena’s target landing site is located closer to the lunar south pole than any human or vehicle has traveled before.

• Intuitive Machines became the first commercial company ever to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon last year with its Odysseus lander.

• Athena is equipped with a drill, hopper and rover that will conduct scientific research and scour the landing site for water.

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We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. Read more about Intuitive Machines second moon landing attempt here, or scroll through the posts below to relive the event as it unfolded.

Here's what lies ahead for Intuitive Machines

CNN's Ashley Strickland

The Athena lander is on the lunar surface, but its exact orientation is unknown, meaning the mission team is unclear about how it’s sitting.

This means that the mission will now be what Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus referred to as “off-nominal” — the aerospace term for not-as-expected — suggesting that the objectives for IM-2 will need to be met differently than originally planned.

However, it does appear the lander touched down somewhere in the vicinity of the landing site because its crater-mapping algorithm performed as expected.

Until Athena’s cameras, as well as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, can return images, the lander’s orientation and its exact location in relation to the target landing perimeter remains unknown. The orbiter will likely be able to return images within the next couple of days.

The team also needs to determine exactly how off-nominal the mission will be. This could impact the mission’s duration, as well as which payloads and experiments, like rovers, aboard the lander can move forward and complete their test objectives.

"Interplanetary scavenger hunt": There is $250,000 worth of crypto onboard Athena

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

Tucked inside Athena, onboard the MAPP rover constructed by Colorado-based Lunar Outpost, is a key — or a series of random numbers — that can unlock a wallet that is currently holding $251,169.29 worth of cryptocurrency.

The assets were largely donated, according to Lunar Outpost CEO Justin Cyrus, and included holdings in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins. The project was put together by Lunar Outpost and a Silicon Valley-based firm, and it’s called it Nakamoto-1.

The numeric key was laser engraved on the MAPP rover, and “no one knows what (the numbers) are,” Cyrus told CNN.

Lunar Outpost intended to drive MAPP until it ceased operations as lunar night fell over the area, making the rover an indefinite feature of the lunar surface.

But Nakamoto and Lunar Outpost hoped the crypto key would lure future astronauts or explorers to the site, serving as a cosmic treasure hunt.

“It’s just kind of a fun way to bring attention to the new economy out in space and what is possible,” Cyrus added.

It’s not yet clear, however, if the MAPP rover will be able to leave the Athena lander at all. Cyrus said earlier this week that Lunar Outpost might be able to deploy the vehicle even if Athena isn’t sitting upright.

Athena's cameras will determine how the lander is sitting

CNN's Ashley Strickland

The Athena lander’s cameras, which were added after lessons learned from the first Intuitive Machines lunar mission, IM-1, will help the team determine the lander’s orientation, Intuitive Machines chief technology officer Tim Crain said.

“We have a number of cameras to choose from to help us visualize the horizon,” he said. “We can get a lot of information, really the way humanity has done it for millennia, by looking at the distant horizon, seeing the Earth in the field of view. With that information, we’ll be able to confirm orientation.”

Intuitive Machines exec: The lunar south pole is a "twilight space"

CNN's Ashley Strickland

Prior to landing, Athena’s cameras captured “some really, really great pictures flying over the south pole,” Intuitive Machines chief technology officer Tim Crain said.

“Even as a space person, you know, I, like everyone else, I’m used to looking at the moon and seeing the bright part and the really dark part,” Crain said. “The south pole is different. It’s this twilight space of shadows and grays. That was interesting. I’m really proud of how well our crater tracking system did in this very unusual lighting condition. So, we’ll get it next time.”

This week's lunar landings inspired a sense of "community"

CNN's Ashley Strickland

Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace, which have both landed on the moon within the span of a week, have a friendly rivalry — one that involves sending each other coffee, cookies and offering some help in crucial moments.

“Once we got into orbit, Firefly had already landed, and we were getting a signal interference on one of our radios, and we knew that one of our frequencies was close to theirs, so we called Firefly,” Intuitive Machines chief technology officer Tim Crain said.

The Firefly team was happy to help, he said. The team later figured out the radio interference wasn’t an issue. But it appreciated the help all the same, as well as the shared “sense of community,” Crain said.

“Any time humanity puts a lander on the moon, it’s a good thing, and so they definitely live up to that,” Crain said. “They will help us out. Happy to help them out in the future, too.”

Officials: The lander is likely "in the vicinity" of its intended touchdown site

CNN's Ashley Strickland

In this still from video, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus speaks at a news conference on Thursday March 6.

In this still from video, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus speaks at a news conference on Thursday March 6.

NASA+

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said the team believes the Athena lander is “in the vicinity of the intended landing site.”

“I don’t know exactly where we would be in relation to the landing ellipse that we had specified pre-mission, with 50 meters accuracy, so that is what we want to get Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera view to pinpoint the location,” Altemus said.

The orbiter should be able to capture an image of the lander within a couple of days.

Intuitive Machines chief technology officer Tim Crain said he believes Athena’s crater recognition software worked as expected and put the lander on the proper trajectory to land near its target.

Athena’s software includes a map of craters within the area. The algorithm identifies circles — in the case of Athena, 280 circles, and determines which ones are craters. It then matches them, like fingerprints, to the craters in its map database.

The autonomous software, including the lander’s onboard navigation system, confirmed it was identifying the correct craters, Crain said.

“The answer, over and over and over, was, yes,” Crain said.

But Crain is “a little bit disappointed” because he said the lander is likely just outside of the landing site perimeter.

However, Athena is “absolutely on” the 60-mile-wide (100-kilometer-wide) plateau called Mons Mouton — which lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the lunar south pole, Crain said.

Athena's exact location is unknown

CNN's Ashley Strickland

In this screenshot from video, Dr. Nicky Fox speaks during a press conference at the NASA Johnson newsroom in Houston, on Thursday.

In this screenshot from video, Dr. Nicky Fox speaks during a press conference at the NASA Johnson newsroom in Houston, on Thursday.

NASA

Dr. Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, addressed the difficulty of landing on the moon during the news conference.

“I think we can all agree, particularly today, that landing on the moon is extremely hard and Intuitive Machines-2 was aiming to land in a place that humanity has not been to before,” Fox said.

Fox and Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus both said that the Athena lander’s exact location on the moon is unknown.

“As Steve said, we don’t know the exact location of the lander,” Fox said. “We do know that it is returning data, and we look forward to actually being able to work with Intuitive Machines on a plan to return as much science data and technology data as we can during its stay on the moon.”

Athena is not "in the correct attitude" on the moon

CNN's Ashley Strickland

In this screenshot from video, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus speaks during a news conference at the NASA Johnson newsroom in Houston, on Thursday.

In this screenshot from video, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus speaks during a news conference at the NASA Johnson newsroom in Houston, on Thursday.

NASA

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus confirmed that while the Athena lander is on the lunar surface, the landing didn’t go entirely as planned.

“I do have to tell you that we don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude on the surface of the moon yet,” Altemus said during a news conference hosted by the company and NASA. “Again, I don’t have all the data yet to say exactly where what the attitude of the vehicle is. We’re collecting photos now and downlinking those, and we’re going to get a picture from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera from above, from orbit, and we’ll confirm that over the coming days as we get that data down.”

Altemus confirmed that the lander is charging on the surface, and the team has been able to communicate back and forth with Athena.

“We can command payloads on and off,” he said. “We have done some power conservation steps as prudent measures to see how long and what objectives we can accomplish in the mission going forward.”

Altemus said the team will work closely with NASA to identify science objectives that are the highest priority.

“Then we’ll figure out what the what the mission profile will look like,” he said. “It will be off-nominal, because we’re not getting everything that we had asked for in terms of power generation, communications.”

But Altemus also said he believes Athena has achieved success by landing.

“Any time that you ship a spacecraft to Florida for flight and end up a week later operating on the moon, I declare that a success,” he said.

Athena is on the moon — but it's not clear if it is upright. Here's a recap of the landing

From CNN's Jackie Wattles and Elise Hammond

The status of the Athena spacecraft which reached the lunar surface Thursday afternoon is currently unclear. It’s the second US-made spacecraft to attempt a moon landing this week.

Athena, made by Intuitive Machines, traveled 700,000 kilometers (435,000 miles), which is nearly double the distance between the Earth and moon, according to Intuitive Machines’ Josh Marshall.

Where it was landing: The lander’s destination was Mons Mouton — a plateau in the moon’s south pole region. The towering geographic feature has pristine conditions for this mission, as it offers a “Goldilocks zone for sunlight,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The sunlight and clear view of Earth at the location are important to power the mission and maintain communication between the spacecraft and mission control, Fox said.

Here’s a recap of what happened:

As Athena approached the moon, it fired up its engine, beginning a gradual slowdown that continued until touchdown.
Marshall confirmed Athena was delivering “good signal, good data.” The lander is self-piloted, but there was a window here where flight controllers could have intervened.
As it headed for landing, Athena rolled over, completing a “pitch over” maneuver to orient itself.
After that, engineers searched for a signal and waited for confirmation that Athena was on the moon.
Shortly after, Athena started sending some data that it was on the moon’s surface with one of its radios. The other had lost signal, Marshall said.
Commentators on Intuitive Machines’ webcast confirmed that Athena is getting power, suggesting its solar panels may be catching sunlight — but its status was still unclear.
Where things stand now: What we don’t know is how the vehicle landed — whether it is upright — and exactly where it ended up. Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus confirmed the vehicle is intact, delivering data, generating power — but not enough. It has shut down certain components to save energy, he said.

A separate mission that launched with Athena has come to a premature end

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

Astroforge's Odin spacecraft.

Astroforge's Odin spacecraft.

Astroforge

The mission of Odin, a spacecraft belonging to asteroid mining company AstroForge that rode with Athena to space before breaking off on its own, has met an untimely end, the company shared Thursday.

Odin was attempting to voyage to an asteroid in the hopes that onboard cameras could confirm whether the space rock is filled with platinum, a valuable resource that AstroForge hopes to one day collect and bring back home. Now, the company believes that the spacecraft is tumbling and its chance of regaining communication with Odin is minimal, AstroForge announced this morning in a post on X.

The goal was for the spacecraft to spend roughly 300 days in the celestial void, waiting to make a flyby approach of an asteroid called 2022 OB5.

AstroForge CEO Matt Gialich knew such a mission would be extremely risky and complicated.

“I’m f**king terrified,” Gialich told CNN in a video interview last month. “That’s the honest truth.”

So far, only government space agencies have brought minuscule samples from asteroids back to Earth at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Odin cost less than $7 million and was assembled in just 10 months.

The vehicle encountered issues from its first few hours in space. An update on the company’s website reads like a science fiction novel, recounting one dramatic turn of events after another.

Despite initial complications, the company said it made contact with Odin multiple times, but ultimately lost track of the spacecraft and could not make further contact due to high position error.

“These learnings from Odin will significantly de-risk our upcoming missions and increase our chances of success,” said the company’s chief operating officer Robyn Ringuette, in a statement. “While we didn’t achieve everything we hoped for with Odin, the mission has already provided an invaluable return on investment through the knowledge gained.”

Read more about Odin here.

These are the factors fueling the new moon race

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows the Earth rising above the moon's horizon, in July 1969.

This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows the Earth rising above the moon's horizon, in July 1969.

NASA

Countries and companies worldwide are racing to the surface of the moon — for several critical reasons.

So far, the United States, China, India and Japan are the only nations to have soft-landed vehicles on the moon in the 21st century. But there are more than 100 lunar missions planned to take place before 2030, according to the European Space Agency.

Here’s why:

Resources: The moon is home to things like minerals and isotopes that are hard to find on Earth. Some of these materials could be vital to nuclear fusion, a possibly game-changing clean energy source.
Exploration: Scientists have also theorized that water in ice form could be available on the moon — something that could be turned into rocket fuel to allow for more exploration. Several countries have plans to establish permanent bases on the moon that could serve as jumping-off points for other space destinations.
Politics: Space travel has a historic connection to the Cold War. Going to the moon shows other countries that you have technological superiority. The United States’ biggest competitor today is China, which has spent billions on space endeavors.

Firefly and Intuitive Machines swapped gifts

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace are in the throes of a friendly rivalry as the two Texas-based companies each pursue separate moon landing missions in one calendar week.

Firefly’s Sunday landing was deemed successful, while the fate of Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander is unclear.

Still, while the two companies have played with lighthearted jabs, they have expressed support for each other.

An Intuitive Machines spokesperson told CNN that the company had Austin-based Rocket Coffee ATX send over some caffeinated beverages to fuel Firefly’s landing-day festivities, which happened in the wee hours of Sunday.

Firefly, meanwhile, sent cookies to Intuitive Machines’ mission control this week, the spokesperson said.

Employees trickle out of a watch party as they await more info

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

A party teeming with hundreds of Intuitive Machines employees, business partners and NASA personnnel is clearing out. The event was hosted at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston.

The next big update is expected to come at 4 p.m. ET when NASA and Intuitive Machines leadership discuss the mission during a news conference.

Can Athena still operate if it's on its side?

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

This photo provided by NASA shows the Intuitive Machines' Athena lander approaching the surface of the moon on Thursday.

This photo provided by NASA shows the Intuitive Machines' Athena lander approaching the surface of the moon on Thursday.

NASA/AP

We’re still waiting for clear confirmation about how and where Athena landed on the moon.

If the vehicle tipped over on its side, as Intuitive Machines’ first lunar spacecraft did last year, it can still carry out some critical science and tech demonstrations if the company can reconfigure communications to get enough data.

The CEO of Lunar Outpost, which built a carry-on suitcase-size rover designed to deploy from Athena, told CNN that the company would attempt to deploy the four-wheeled rover even if Athena is tipped over.

Intuitive Machines CEO: Athena has landed and is working to save power

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just arrived at an employee watch party at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, where hundreds of people have been gathered, snacking on barbecue as they wait for news.

“We’re looking at things now to determine exactly where we stand,” Altemus said. “What we have at Intuitive Machines is a steely eyed rocket scientist and mission control team.”

Altemus said Athena used avoidance maneuvers to navigate, avoiding “boulders bigger than a bowling ball.” He also confirmed the vehicle is intact, delivering data, generating power — but not enough, hence Intuitive Machines’ efforts to shut down certain components to save energy.

A lot of questions remain.

“The main priority right now is to get a picture of our orientation and location on the surface so that we know precisely how to move forward with the mission,” Altemus said. “Where is the vehicle? What’s it look like? Where can we point the antennas? What can we do with the radios? What can we do with the science panels? I don’t know yet.”

Intuitive Machines stock tumbles amid uncertainty about landing

One factor keeping today’s moon landing attempt interesting: Intuitive Machines is a publicly traded company, and investors are reacting in real time as news comes down.

Right now, the stock is down about 18.5%, trading at $11.50 per share.

The company’s stock was also down very slightly this morning — in line with the broader stock market as Wall Street reacts to tariffs and other economic factors. But Intuitive Machines’ shares have been on a roller coaster since the landing attempt.

Landing on an asteroid is easier than landing on the moon. Here's why

From CNN's Jackie Wattles

A cheap spacecraft, developed by California-based startup AstroForge, rode alongside Athena when it launched from Earth last week.

The two vehicles were each on their own trajectory as Athena aimed for the moon and AstroForge’s Odin seeks to fly by an asteroid called 2022 OB5. (It’s not clear if that will happen, as Odin is already experiencing difficulties.)

The AstroForge spacecraft was designed to snap photos of the asteroid rather than landing on its surface, intending to pave the way for future missions that could extract valuable metal from the space rock.

But for the record: Landing on an asteroid is easier than landing on the moon, said Siegfried Eggl, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

So, soft landing on the moon “is much harder than soft-landing on asteroids,” Eggl said.

Workers briefly cheer as Intuitive Machines cofounder says "We have landed"

In this screenshot from video, the Intuitive Machines Athena lander is seen during its attempted landing on the moon on Thursday.

In this screenshot from video, the Intuitive Machines Athena lander is seen during its attempted landing on the moon on Thursday.

NASA

Company cofounder Kam Ghaffarian just offered an update from the podium at an employee watch party: “We have landed, we have indication they have power, and we’re trying to figure out the rest of it.”

At last, this elicited some cheers and applause from a crowd that has remained largely quiet as employees wait to hear updates.

Employees at a watch party break for lunch

Jade Marcantel, the chief human capital officer at Intuitive Machines, just kicked off the employee watch party, addressed a crowd of employees gathered here and told them to take a break to eat some BBQ.

There have been no raucous celebrations, setting a tone far different from the watch party that Firefly Aerospace held near Austin for its lunar landing on Sunday.

There is no clear indiction that something is deeply wrong with, Athena, however. Employees are still waiting to see photos of touchdown and to hear exactly how and where the vehicle landed.