This orientation prevented the lander's solar panels from capturing enough sunlight, and Intuitive Machines declared Athena dead on March 7. (The company's first moon lander, named Odysseus, also tipped over during its historic February 2024 touchdown but was able to operate for longer on the lunar surface.)

The Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover aboard the toppled Intuitive Machines Athena lunar lander survived the landing that took out its parent spacecraft and even managed to transmit some data from the moon's surface.

Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rover mission would have seen it become the first U.S. robotic rover on the surface of the moon. It would have also tested first-of-its-kind lunar 4G Nokia cellphone technology and completed the first sale of so-called “space resources” in human history—by scooping up a small amount of moon dirt for NASA.

A total lunar eclipse will turn the full moon red on Thursday evening and Friday morning across the Western Hemisphere, depending on where you live.

When the Earth passed by the Sun earlier today, the Blue Ghost lunar lander had a beautiful view from the moon's surface. Image above, video below. Built by Firefly Aerospace, Blue Ghost touched down on the Moon last week,

A total lunar eclipse appears as the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, completely blocking it from the sun.