A Falcon 9 rocket has successfully sent the Athena vehicle, built by Intuitive Machines, into space. It is scheduled to land on the Moon next month.
Athena was built by Intuitive Machines under a contract received from NASA as part of the CLPS program. Its height is 4.3 meters, diameter is 1.6 meters, and mass (excluding fuel) is 675 kg. The vehicle can deliver up to 130 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface.
The mission plan assumes that Athena will land in the Moon’s South Polar region near Shackleton Crater, which is believed to have ice deposits at the bottom. At this point, landing is scheduled for March 6.
The mission’s primary objective is to demonstrate technologies that should lay the basis for a long-term lunar infrastructure. During one of the experiments, the spacecraft will take a sample of matter from the lunar interior, after which it will search for volatile substances in it. Athena will also collect radiation data and deploy the first ever 4G network on the Moon.
In addition, Athena will land several mobile vehicles on the Moon. One of them, called Micro Nova Hopper, will navigate the lunar surface by jumping. It will study craters whose bottoms are never illuminated by the Sun.
The Micro Nova Hopper will be accompanied by the MAPP and Yaoki micro-rovers. The first will explore the lunar surface, measuring its temperature and collecting samples of regolith. A tiny matchbox-sized apparatus called AstroAnt is mounted on its roof, which will measure the temperature of MAPP’s own body. As for Yaoki, it will be engaged in testing the technology for traveling on the lunar surface.
In addition to Athena, Falcon 9 also launched several “companions” into space. Some of them, like the NASA-built Lunar Trailblazer and the “commercial” Doge-1 satellite, will go into orbit around the Moon. And the Odin probe built by AstroForge will travel to near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5. It will make its close flyby in December 2025.
More details about all Falcon 9 vehicles launched and their main tasks can be found in the article on our website.
