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Where is Athena?  A mysterious private moon landing leaves NASA guessing

Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh

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Uncertain Touchdown

Athena landed near the Moon’s south pole, but even after touchdown, Mission Control wasn’t sure if it was upright.

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Second Time’s Sideways?

Intuitive Machines’ last lander tipped over. This time, Athena must stay upright to deploy its rovers and drone—but its condition remains unknown.

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Lunar Traffic Jam

Athena’s landing marks the second private U.S. moon landing this week, following Firefly Aerospace’s successful Blue Ghost mission.

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NASA’s Gamble

NASA admits some low-cost commercial moon missions will fail, but the goal is to get more experiments to the lunar surface.

Ice-Hunting Drone

Athena carries a rocket-powered drone designed to hop into shadowed craters, searching for frozen water—key for future Moon missions.

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Shared Ride, Mixed Results

Athena’s rocket also launched NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer and AstroForge’s asteroid-chasing Odin—both now struggling in space.

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America’s Return

Intuitive Machines ended a 50-year U.S. moon-landing drought in 2023. Now, it’s proving whether private companies can sustain lunar exploration.

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Artemis on the Horizon

These robotic landers act as scouts for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon later this decade.

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Who’s on the List?

Only five countries have landed on the Moon: Russia, China, India, Japan, and the U.S. But private companies may soon change that.