Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon • Hacker News Board

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#11

Post by parsimo2010 » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:46 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #2

One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Maybe next missions will feature less tower-shaped designs and more crab-shaped designs, at least during the landing phase.

The craft that tipped over last year (Odysseus) was also made by Intuitive Machines (IM).

Firefly's Blue Ghost landed on the moon last week without tipping over, proving that a modern commercial company can do it.

Kind of embarrassing for IM which is 0 for 2. I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons/excuses for why IM's landers fell over and I'm sure their mission profiles are different from Firefly's, but from a high level perspective I'm sure senior leaders at NASA are reconsidering giving any new contracts to IM.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#12

Post by mclau156 » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:50 PM UTC

The company Intuitive Machines first and second moon-landers both tipped over, hopefully the third does not tip over

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#13

Post by mikeyouse » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:50 PM UTC

Kind of passed over in the discussion of the science and toppling - but did they give any idea why it landed 250 miles from its intended landing site? Seems like a really large error?

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#14

Post by aylmao » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:51 PM UTC

> The failure of Athena, which was packed with scientific probes and experiments that Nasa was relying on as it prepares to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972, was almost identical to IM’s first moon landing in February 2024.

Does this mean delays for Artemis, or do we not know yet?

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#15

Post by xnx » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:51 PM UTC

That photo is really poetic though.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#16

Post by _shantaram » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

ge96 wrote: post #10

lawlessone wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe make it like a hamster ball. edit: just realized my own stupidity, a ball would be very hard to land..

A mars lander was like that but air bags

three actually

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#17

Post by exe34 » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #6

nine_k wrote: post #2

One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Maybe next missions will feature less tower-shaped designs and more crab-shaped designs, at least during the landing phase.

> One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Presumably it's that shape to fit in the fairing of a Falcon 9?

You can fit a crab sideways in the Falcon 9.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#18

Post by card_zero » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:54 PM UTC

lawlessone wrote: post #4

nine_k wrote: post #2

One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Maybe next missions will feature less tower-shaped designs and more crab-shaped designs, at least during the landing phase.

maybe make it like a hamster ball. edit: just realized my own stupidity, a ball would be very hard to land..

That worked OK for some Mars rovers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover#Airbags

See also the section "uprighting", further down the page - they used a tetrahedral shell with a sensor so it knew which side was down and could lever itself upright.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#19

Post by rolph » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:55 PM UTC

lawlessone wrote: post #4

nine_k wrote: post #2

One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Maybe next missions will feature less tower-shaped designs and more crab-shaped designs, at least during the landing phase.

maybe make it like a hamster ball. edit: just realized my own stupidity, a ball would be very hard to land..

that ball would bounce for a long time and roll for a while until stopping, and unfolding into tetrahedral hemisegments, each in its desired orientation.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#20

Post by aylmao » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 6:59 PM UTC

tekla wrote: post #9

nine_k wrote: post #2

One similarly structured craft (thin and tall) reached the Moon a year ago, and also eventually toppled. Maybe next missions will feature less tower-shaped designs and more crab-shaped designs, at least during the landing phase.

https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-im... Look at the lander. Pray tell, if you want it shorter, where is everything supposed to go?

It could be two landers, one stacked on top of the other for takeoff, but separate for landing

EDIT: or a horizontal lander, packed on it's side for takeoff.

I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but landing something this tall seems quite complicated too in the first place.