A privately owned lunar lander carrying a drill, drone, and rovers for NASA and other customers successfully touched the moon but soon encountered issues and may have tipped over.

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander, which landed near the moon’s south pole, is generating solar power and communicating with controllers, but its exact position remains uncertain.  

Mission Control is working to assess whether its scientific instruments, including the drill and drone, can still operate.

Athena’s descent went as planned until a laser navigation malfunction delayed confirmation of the landing.  

NASA funded Athena’s ice drill and instruments as part of its commercial lunar delivery program to support future astronaut missions.  

Other missions launched with Athena faced issues—NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer lost contact, and the Odin spacecraft was also silent.

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