Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon
www.theguardian.com
Robotic private spacecraft touched down about 250 meters from its intended landing site on Thursday

Even if it landed correctly, why would they plan a solar powered mission to the moon when our next lunar eclipse is in like 5 days?

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    14 hours ago

    True, but communication could still be a problem.

    Generally this kind of probe will have a highly directional antenna that has pretty strict limits on it’s aim. We would have to be very lucky for the antenna to not get damaged during the fall and end up in a position where it can still establish a connection. Even if all the science is fine, it’s as good as useless if it can’t communicate any results or accept commands.

    • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      14 hours ago

      Ah, but it did send data back before the battery ran down, at least enough data to confirm it fell over when it landed.