**Intuitive Machines Prepares for Second Moon Landing with Enhanced Spacecraft**

Intuitive Machines made headlines as the first private space firm to successfully land on the Moon, even though its spacecraft toppled upon landing. Now, the Houston-based organization is readying itself for a second mission, with the goal of refining its earlier effort through its newly developed spacecraft, Athena.

### **Optimizing the Next Lunar Voyage**

Leaders at Intuitive Machines have implemented significant enhancements to Athena to avert the complications that hindered their 2024 mission. “Landing on the Moon is incredibly challenging,” commented Trent Martin, the company’s senior vice president of space systems. “We are certainly aiming to improve this time compared to our last attempt, but there’s always an element of uncertainty.”

The forthcoming mission, referred to as IM-2 or **PRIME-1**, is set to launch aboard a **SpaceX Falcon 9** rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on **February 26**. While a precise launch time has yet to be revealed, **NASA** intends to stream the event live. In addition to Athena, the **Lunar Trailblazer** spacecraft by **NASA** will also be part of the mission, focusing on mapping lunar water reserves from space.

### **A Competitive Sprint to the Moon**

Once launched, IM-2 will become the third lander heading to the Moon, joining **Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost** and **ispace’s Resilience**, both currently in lunar orbit. Firefly’s lander is part of NASA’s **Commercial Lunar Payload Services** initiative and is slated to undertake a landing on **March 2**, closely followed by Intuitive Machines on **March 6**.

NASA has committed **$2.6 billion** in contracts with private entities to ferry scientific instruments to the Moon and gather crucial data. Nonetheless, landing remains a formidable challenge, as highlighted by Intuitive Machines’ past mission. Unlike Earth, the Moon’s **sparse exosphere** offers no atmospheric resistance to decelerate a spacecraft, and the lack of **GPS navigation** complicates precise landings even further.

### **Insights Gained from the 2024 Landing**

During its 2024 mission, Intuitive Machines encountered a last-minute dilemma when flight controllers identified a glitch in the spacecraft’s navigation system mere hours before landing. To rectify the situation, the team opted for a **NASA laser-based system**, which ultimately led to the lander reaching the surface but resulted in it ending up on its side.

Planetary scientist **Phil Metzger** indicated that the Moon’s gravity and inertia render landings especially challenging, explaining that objects on the lunar surface are “six times more tippy” than those on Earth. This issue similarly affected Japan’s **SLIM** lander, which faced a comparable situation.

An analysis following the landing showed that a **landing leg had been damaged**, leading to the tilt that obstructed its primary antenna. Consequently, the team had to depend on a backup antenna with reduced bandwidth for data transmission.

“IM-1 was a success because we managed to relay data from the surface of the Moon back to Earth,” noted Martin. “However, we did end up on our side.”

### **85 Enhancements for a More Stable Landing**

Post-mission, Intuitive Machines carried out a comprehensive review and identified **85 upgrades** for Athena. One significant concern involved the **laser altimeter**, which gauges altitude via a laser beam. Due to this issue, controllers had to resort to onboard cameras, which lacked precision, resulting in a **more challenging landing** than anticipated.

To tackle these difficulties, Athena has been revamped with improved landing features, enabling it to land at an angle of up to **10 degrees**—or potentially more—while still achieving mission goals. The team has also tested all deployment systems under various tilt scenarios to verify their functionality.

Moreover, communication systems have seen enhancements. The new spacecraft is engineered to sustain contact with Earth even if it lands at a **30-degree tilt**, and ground-based receiving stations have been upgraded for enhanced data transmission.

### **Scientific Aims and Future Potential**

Athena will house **NASA instruments**, including a **drill and mass spectrometer**, to examine gases in the lunar soil at **Mons Mouton**, a plateau near the Moon’s south pole. However, for these devices to function correctly, the lander needs to remain upright.

Despite the inherent risks, Intuitive Machines remains hopeful. “If something were to occur like last time, resulting in us landing on our side,” Martin stated. “Clearly, we wouldn’t be able to deploy drills, hoppers, and rovers. However, there are still numerous instruments we could operate, similar to last time.”

With these advancements, Intuitive Machines aspires to achieve a more stable landing and further aid in lunar exploration, paving the way for