WASHINGTON \u2014 Problems with laser altimeters along with lighting and terrain challenges caused Intuitive Machines\u2019 second lunar lander to fall on its side when it landed on the moon in March.<\/p>\n
Company executives said in a May 14 earnings call that three factors contributed to the \u201clanding anomaly\u201d on its IM-2 mission. On that mission the Nova-C lander fell on its side in a crater when it touched down in the south polar region of the moon March 6. The lander was not able to generate sufficient power from its solar panels, leading to an end of the mission barely 12 hours after touchdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n One factor was an issue the company previously discussed with the lander\u2019s laser altimeters. Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines, said there was \u201csignal noise and distortion\u201d from the altimeters during the lander\u2019s final descent \u201cthat did not allow for accurate altitude readings.\u201d<\/p>\n A second factor was conditions at the south polar region of the moon, where low sun angles cause long shadows that \u201cchallenged the precision capability of our landing system.\u201d A third, related factor, is that craters appeared differently at lower altitudes, given those lighting conditions, than they did in reference images from NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, affecting the lander\u2019s optical navigation system.<\/p>\n Altemus said the company is incorporating the lessons learned from IM-2 into its next lander mission, IM-3, scheduled for next year. That lander will include dissimilar and redundant altimeters, which will go through more \u201cflight-like\u201d testing ahead of launch. The lander will also have a new lighting-independent sensor to measure surface velocity, and will have an enhanced crater database for improved optical navigation.<\/p>\n Those changes, he said, will not delay the mission. There will be a \u201cslight\u201d increase in cost because of the additional sensors, but he did not quantify the increase.<\/p>\n Altemus said the company is in negotiations with NASA and other customers on the IM-2 mission about up to $14 million in success payments. Some of the payloads were able to carry out limited tests on the moon: a NASA drill, for example, was able to test its mechanisms but was not able to drill into the lunar surface as planned. Altemus said the company wants to complete those negotiations by the end of the quarter or early the following quarter.<\/p>\n Diversification and Artemis changes<\/p>\n Intuitive Machines emphasized in the earnings call its efforts to diversify beyond lunar lander. Altemus highlighted efforts such as design of an orbital transfer vehicle based on the Nova-C lander being done with an unnamed government customers, as well as ongoing work with the Air Force Research Lab\u2019s JETSON project for a spacecraft that uses nuclear electric propulsion.<\/p>\n