“Shortly after touching down inside a crater on the Moon, carrying NASA technology and science on its IM-2 mission, Intuitive Machines collected some data for the agency before calling an early end of mission at 12:15 am CST Friday. As part of the company’s second Moon delivery for NASA under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, the IM-2 mission included a drill to bring lunar soil to the surface and a mass spectrometer to look for the presence of volatiles, or gases, that could one day help provide fuel or breathable oxygen to future Artemis explorers. Planned to land at Mons Mouton, IM-2 touched down at approximately 11:30 am March 6, more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) from its intended landing site.”
“Intuitive Machines said images collected later confirmed the lander was on its side, preventing it from fully operating the drill and other instruments before its batteries were depleted. The IM-2 mission landed closer to the lunar South Pole than any previous lander,” says NASA in an update on their quest to find a silver lining to the IM-2 clusterfuck.