INTUITIVE Machine’s lunar lander has lost contact with mission control after a journey to the moon as it carries a hopping robot.
The private US company has partnered with US space agency Nasa to look for traces of water and ice on the moons surface.
Following a seemingly successful landing around 1730GMT (1230EST) today, Athena the lunar lander went rogue.
Data showed the spacecraft had not crashed, however, it was not working quite as it should be.
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus told CNN Science: “We’re looking at things now to determine exactly where we stand.
“What we have at Intuitive Machines is a steely eyed rocket scientist and mission control team.”
Although the vehicle is intact, delivering data and generating power, Altemus said this is not enough.
He added: “The main priority right now is to get a picture of our orientation and location on the surface so that we know precisely how to move forward with the mission.
“Where is the vehicle? What’s it look like? Where can we point the antennas?
“What can we do with the radios? What can we do with the science panels? I don’t know yet.”
Athena also happens to be carrying a hopping robot and three rovers.
Rovers are about the size of a small dog.
They have a type of antenna designed to test a Nokia mobile phone network on the moon.
Intuitive Machines will also test a rocket-powered vehicle called a hopper that can explore areas not easily reached by rovers.
The hopper is meant to hop across the moons surface and reach a large crater that’s in permanent shade.
Two smaller rovers are also on board.
One built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the other by a Japanese company.
A picture should soon be released to Athena about 100miles from the South Pole in an area of the lunar highlands called Mons Mouton.
If Athena is functioning properly, it’ll have 10 days to complete its scientific observations and measurements.
The hopper should be released from Athena in the following days and leap up to 100m in altitude.
It will travel up to 1.2 miles and after five leaps, should land inside the crater with a camera.
There, it’ll take the first images of the interior and hopefully, given the locations permanent shade, ice will be present.
Professor Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist with the Open University told the BBC: “These hoppers are really suited to the lunar environment because there’s no atmosphere there, practically speaking, so doing a series of controlled leaps is a great way to move around.”
This mission is part of Nasa’s long-term goal to take humans back to the lunar surface.
Intuitive Machines hopes to take astronauts up in 2027 with the Artemis programme.
Prof Barber explained: “This is another step towards assessing the viability of the lunar South Pole as a place to go and set up future bases for humans.
“A lot of planning of future exploration is being predicated on the presence of water ice, but if you want to use it, you need to know where it is and how much there is.”
It comes after Intuitive Machines successfully landed a craft called Odysseus on the Moon in February last year.
However, it tipped over during the descent, meaning not all the scientific work could be carried out.
