Watch the landing of Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander on the Moon tomorrow
NASA has now announced its live stream arrangement for the landing of Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander on the Moon tomorrow at 12:32 pm (Eastern).
The live stream will begin about sixty minutes before landing. The NASA live stream is available here. I have also embedded it below.
The map to the right shows the landing site by the yellow “X”, about 100 miles from the Moon’s south pole on a high relatively flat plateau dubbed Mons Mouton. This will be the closest any lander has come to the pole, and was the original site chosen for NASA’s now-canceled VIPER rover. If the landing is successful Athena will land close to a small crater that is believed to have permanently shadowed areas. The plan had been to have VIPER travel into it. Now the small Grace hopper that Athena carries will attempt this instead.
This will also be the second attempt by Intuitive Machines to soft land on the Moon. Its first attempt last year was able to land and communicate back to Earth, but the landing was not completely successful. The lander, named Nova-C as well as Odysseus, was moving too fast sideways when it touched down, thus breaking one leg so that the lander fell on its side.
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NASA has now announced its live stream arrangement for the landing of Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander on the Moon tomorrow at 12:32 pm (Eastern).
The live stream will begin about sixty minutes before landing. The NASA live stream is available here. I have also embedded it below.
The map to the right shows the landing site by the yellow “X”, about 100 miles from the Moon’s south pole on a high relatively flat plateau dubbed Mons Mouton. This will be the closest any lander has come to the pole, and was the original site chosen for NASA’s now-canceled VIPER rover. If the landing is successful Athena will land close to a small crater that is believed to have permanently shadowed areas. The plan had been to have VIPER travel into it. Now the small Grace hopper that Athena carries will attempt this instead.
This will also be the second attempt by Intuitive Machines to soft land on the Moon. Its first attempt last year was able to land and communicate back to Earth, but the landing was not completely successful. The lander, named Nova-C as well as Odysseus, was moving too fast sideways when it touched down, thus breaking one leg so that the lander fell on its side.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I hope they remembered to unlock and enable their range finding sensor on this flight. That rookie mistake likely cost them a successful landing of their first landing with Odysseus.