A robotic lunar spacecraft, Athena, built by Texas-based Intuitive Machines (IM), toppled over upon landing on the moon, abruptly ending its mission. Launched last month, Athena was intended to land near the lunar south pole, a region suspected to contain most of the Moon’s water, but instead touched down about 400 km off target. Initially, it transmitted data despite an “incorrect attitude,” but IM confirmed on Friday that extreme cold and poor solar panel orientation meant Athena would not recharge.
In a separate incident, SpaceX’s Starship suffered a dramatic failure shortly after launch, with telemetry data indicating premature engine shutdowns before the vehicle broke apart, sending debris back toward Earth. Early reports suggest that an issue with the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems could be a contributing factor.
Meanwhile, I would argue that the liberal mainstream media is using a straw man attack on Musk’s setbacks with the 7th and 8th Starship launches to divert attention from the significantly larger failure of the Athena mission—where NASA reportedly spent $200 million, compared to an estimated $5 million per Starship launch.
