IM-2 Athena lands near the lunar south pole but tips over

Intuitive Machines/Nova-C

Intuitive Machines' second lander, Athena, touched down near the lunar south pole on March 6 at 17:28:50 UTC but ended up on its side, preventing solar panels from recharging batteries. The mission was declared over the next day after about 13 hours of operations, but still returned data and moved NASA's PRIME-1 drill in the southernmost lunar surface operations to date.

• Landing March 6, 2025, at Mons Mouton (84°47'26"S); lander tipped on its side during touchdown.
• Lunar dust interference with navigation; insufficient solar panel orientation for recharge.
• Mission ended March 7 after ~13 hours; one of two radio antennas failed.
• NASA PRIME-1 drill moved to southernmost position on lunar surface; rovers and hopper never deployed due to power constraints.