Athena's moon mission ends with a sideways landing: a problem for private space travel.
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A private lunar lander named Athena is no longer working after a difficult landing on the moon. Athena landed on its side in a crater near the moon's south pole and can't be fixed.
Athena missed its target landing spot by a lot and ended up in a very cold crater. Before it stopped working, Athena was able to send back some pictures and do a few experiments.
This was the second time Intuitive Machines, the company that made Athena, tried to land on the moon. Both times, the landers landed sideways, but the first one worked for a longer time.
The south pole of the moon is a hard place to land because it's dark, cold, and has rough terrain. NASA wants to land astronauts there in the future because there might be ice that could be used for water and fuel.
Intuitive Machines plans to send more landers to the moon in the future. They need to figure out what went wrong with this landing before they try again.
Questions
What happened to the lunar lander named Athena?
Athena is no longer working after a difficult landing on the moon.
Why is the south pole of the moon a hard place to land?
It is dark, cold, and has rough terrain.
What does Intuitive Machines plan to do in the future?
They plan to send more landers to the moon.
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