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Phil StookeIntuitive Machines have not yet released their analysis of the landing, but this OHRC image has to be a major contribution to that analysis. I have never seen anything like this before but we don't have images like this for most landings. It would be great to have this for Luna 23, for instance, and Surveyors 3 and 5 and many crash sites. You can look for OHRC images here - you need to register. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/OHRC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#OHRC</a>

Phil StookeLRO imaged the Athena landing site:<a href="https://lroc.im-ldi.com/images/1409" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://lroc.im-ldi.com/images/1409</a>but again the most impressive and informative images were taken by India's Chandrayaan 2 orbiter. Its Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) took an image and Indian space enthusiast Chandra Tungathurthi found it in the released data:<a href="https://twitter.com/this_is_tckb/status/1953355239546921281" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/this_is_tckb/status/1953355239546921281</a>I made this map using the image and that Yaoki image, hinting at what happened during the final approach. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/OHRC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#OHRC</a>

Phil StookeFinally, at the bottom of the image in the last post is a version with vertical exaggeration (my party trick) which makes it easier to see the sliver of landscape outside the crater. Half a crater is visible outside the foreground crater at right. We will see it tomorrow in a very different image. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeAnother look at the surface view from IM-2 Athena. It's lying on its side with the TRIDENT drill on the top as seen here. It was extended out from the camera to test its motion and other operations but couldn't touch the surface. The view is to the northwest. I brightened the shaded crater floor, showing a rock at lower right in A which is probably the same rock seen in B (see yesterday's post). Below, a view with the horizon straightened (C)... <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThis is an annotated version of that image. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/yaoki" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#yaoki</a>

Phil StookeThe second rover was a tiny vehicle called Yaoki from Japan:<a href="https://dymon.co.jp/en/yaoki/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://dymon.co.jp/en/yaoki/</a>It couldn't deploy but could take pictures looking 'down' (in this case sideways) and about 25 images were taken:<a href="https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/louisburtz/dymon-yaoki-lunar-rover-images-from-im2-mission/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/louisburtz/dymon-yaoki-lunar-rover-images-from-im2-mission/</a>Finally, here is my processed version of it. The odd curved disk at right is a decal which was fixed on the footpad and has broken off and curled up a bit. The very bright streak is part of the crater rim in sunlight. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/yaoki" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#yaoki</a>

Phil StookeThis article from NASASpaceFlight.com:<a href="https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/03/blue-ghost-im-2-landings/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/03/blue-ghost-im-2-landings/</a>gives an account of the IM-2 Athena landing, after looking at Firefly's mission (they landed only 4 days apart). It includes this surface image:<a href="https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/im-2_moon_orientation-1920x1442.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/im-2_moon_orientation-1920x1442.jpg</a>So we got an image, but several experiments got to run tests including the TRIDENT drill, so there was some data to be had. A rover called MAPP from Lunar Outpost couldn't operate, but a second one took some images... <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeI expect everyone knows what happened to Athena... it landed but fell over, ending on its side in a shaded crater floor, its legs poking up into the sunlight. It couldn't recharge its batteries so it just did what it could (which was quite a lot) before the power ran out in about 12 hours. Views differ but I call a landing a success if any operations are possible on the surface - not the same as mission success. Let's see what it did... <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeWe zoomed in to the landing site with the last set of maps, and Athena zoomed in too, taking images as it approached the landing site:<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/</a>I think the image I used here came from a tweet, but I can't find the source now. I have changed the radial scale and cleaned up significant brightness variations. The shallow crater from yesterday is seen here, and the distant K crater. The original had an intuitive logo which is distorted here. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThat last map shows a bright streak along the lander descent path. The lander seems to have struck the surface with some horizontal velocity and toppled into a crater, landing on its side. A similar fate befell the first Intuitive Machines lander, alas. The site is about 400 m southeast of the target. That shallow crater is visible in descent images as we will see. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeHere we zoom in on the Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena landing site. Mons Mouton is a rolling hills kind of topography like Salisbury Plain where I grew up. The second map here shows that the landing site is quite smooth compared to areas around it. Some craters have letter designations as mentioned yesterday. H would be the shadowed crater floor which the hopper would jump into. The last image shows the lander itself in a crater. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThe Mahanti and Atwell sites were shown in 2 LPSC abstracts about IM-2. The Atwell site was the actual mission target. Four craters have letter designations, from maps shown on the company website (<a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-2" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-2</a>) - see the Mission Press Kit. Tomorrow we will take a closer look at the site. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThe map of Mons Mouton shows the VIPER rover target area, which I think is still the target of Astrobotic's Griffin lander at the end of this year. The PROSPECT area further north is a target for a future CLPS mission. PROSPECT is a European payload moved to CLPS from its original ride on Russia's Luna 27. Also aiming for this area is Blue Origin's Blue Moon MK-1 Pathfinder lander, about the end of this year, and I think a likely choice for Artemis 3 in a few years. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThis is the target area for IM-2 Athena, a plateau called Mons Mouton, after an Apollo-era NASA mathematician. In older sources it is called Leibnitz Beta, a peak of the Leibnitz Mountains which were mapped by astronomers on the Moon's southern limb. The mountains are now considered peaks of the South Pole-Aitken basin rim. Get used to Mons Mouton - we will be seeing a lot more of it. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeHopping into a shaded crater floor comes with some risks... but a method of processing LRO 's high resolution (Narrow Angle) camera images developed by Valentin Bickel revealed some details on the crater floor, depressions and rocks. Two safer areas were suggested for Grace to land in. When the landing site was moved a new route had to be planned, but it has not yet been published. We'll look at the new area tomorrow. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeAthena was carrying several NASA payloads as well as one of the company's own devices, a small flying probe called Grace (after Grace Hopper - an important early computer programmer). Grace would hop off the lander on a short test flight, then make several hops, imaging the surface below. It would hop into a permanent shadow area in a crater unofficially named Marston for direct observation, then out again. This map shows its path. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThe approximate impact site of India's Chandrayaan 1 Moon Impact Probe is shown. This was located by extrapolating from the images taken by MIP during descent. See all the crater names - they are unofficial, part of a set suggested by the LRO camera team - and some have changed since the time this was made in 2022. They are names associated with the famous Shackleton Antarctic expedition. We'll zoom into that box tomorrow. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Phil StookeThe next lander mission and the most recent is Intuitive Machines mission 2, named Athena. I am starting with a look at the landing area considered for several years but changed in the year leading up to launch. This was on a very challenging target, the Shackleton-De Gerlache Ridge (AKA Connecting Ridge) adjacent to Shackleton, the 20 km crater closest to the south pole. The box was the landing area - we'll see it tomorrow. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#maps</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#athena</a>

Astro Hawk (Ian Kluft) ✅🚀🛰️"Here's why the private Athena lunar lander toppled over on the moon" by <a href="https://flipboard.com/@Spacecom" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@Spacecom</a> - Lunar south pole has long shadows and dim lighting from shallow sun angle, worse than expected for <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> lander's cameras. Fixes based on lessons from IM2 failure will be used to improve IM3 landing attempt in 2026. <a href="https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/heres-why-the-private-athena-lunar-lander-toppled-over-on-the-moon" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/heres-why-the-private-athena-lunar-lander-toppled-over-on-the-moon</a> <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/NewSpace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NewSpace</a> <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/Moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Moon</a> <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/space" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#space</a> <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#science</a> <a href="https://spacey.space/tags/business" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#business</a>

RTN<a href="https://chaos.social/tags/SpaceNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceNews</a>: " Altimeter problems, lighting challenges caused IM-2 lunar lander to fall on its side "<a href="https://spacenews.com/altimeter-problems-lighting-challenges-caused-im-2-lunar-lander-to-fall-on-its-side/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://spacenews.com/altimeter-problems-lighting-challenges-caused-im-2-lunar-lander-to-fall-on-its-side/</a>13.5.2025<a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Athena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Athena</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/IM2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IM2</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/IntuitiveMachines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IntuitiveMachines</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Mond" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Mond</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Mondlander" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Mondlander</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Mondlandung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Mondlandung</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moon</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/NASA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NASA</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/NovaC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NovaC</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Raumfahrt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Raumfahrt</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/SpaceFlight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceFlight</a>

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