The moon’s mission ends with a special spacecraft on its side, unable to recharge the batteries

A spacecraft created from the private sector did not stick to the intuitive company, as it ended on its side about 250 meters from its intended location.

This was the second time in less than a week, as a special spacecraft arrived at the moon, but unlike the first landing – that a robotic polite fell by Firefly Aerospace descended successfully – the result of the landing on Thursday put an end to the mission of simple machines.

The company said in a statement on Friday. “

The spacecraft was almost the size of the dishwasher aimed at a plateau on a flat giant mountain called Mons Mouton, in the Antarctic Tiger. Instead, the intuitive machines said, it ended in a nearby hole.

Athens launched on February 26, with the aim of spending about a week on the moon looking for a potential water ice below the surface. Scientists believe that aqueous ice may be relatively abundant in the southern pole. Water is a decisive supplier of future missions that are distinguished on the moon, especially for the long -term potential residences.

This was the second Monchott of intuitive machines, which made history in February 2024 by becoming the first company to land a commercially created spacecraft on the moon. However, this is Lander, which is called Odysseus, the same on his side after the landing.

However, this trip was a success; This was the first time that an American spacecraft has started on the moon for more than 50 years – since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Odysseus also targeted the Antarctic Southern Region, where it landed near a hole called malaier A, near the southern pole.

Athens machines said this time, “The intuitive machines were” the declines and surfaces in the far south they have ever achieved. “

During a news briefing on Thursday, CEO of Intuition Machines Steve Altemus said that flying units were able to send and receive data from the spacecraft after landing. The task control units also managed to operate the trials of Athens on the plane.

Both the intuitive machines and Firefly Aerospace Missions are part of the NASA commercial service program, which the agency created to support the development of private sector companies in the moon. More than ten American companies participate in the initiative, which is a major part of NASA’s broader goal of returning astronauts to the moon.

NASA eventually plans to employ at least some companies to provide scientific experiences, technology and other shipments to the moon.

“I think we can all agree, especially today, that the landing on the moon is very difficult,” Nicolas Fox, Assistant Director of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, told the briefing conference on Thursday.

The early end of the mission of the intuitive machines means that the planned experiments will not be completed as intended. This includes the launch of two Rover and the drone that Athens Lander carried with her to the moon.

The largest Rovers is designed, which is a bag of a bag in the size of a bag designed by Lunar Outpost, to roam around the landing site and take three -dimensional photos of the terrain. In addition, Rover was expected to wander the thumb -to -the -thumbsty in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the largest Rover surface to evaluate its health and take temperature readings.

Meanwhile, the drone was to make a series of jumps around the Athens landing site, which covers about 650 feet.

In addition, the ATHENA plan called for a 4G communications system developed by NOKIA, which company officials said can be used to transfer communications or data between various spacecraft on the moon’s surface.

However, Moon Mania: This summer, Lander and Tiny Rover, developed by a Japanese company called ISPace landing on the moon, will try near the center of a wide basin near the Arctic of the moon named Mare Frigoris.

This article was originally published on NBCNEWS.com