Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 took a picture 6 March 2025 after landing in a crater on the South Pole of the Moon. Now the module is lying on its side approx 820 feet from the intended landing site, Mons Mouton. In the center of the image between the two supports of the module is the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment complex 1, showing the deployed drilling equipment.
Shortly after landing in the crater, under its IM-2 mission program, Intuitive Machines collected some data for the agency, before announcing the premature end of the mission. As part of the second lunar mission for NASA under the CLPS initiative (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), work included drilling and delivering lunar soil to the surface and a mass spectrometer to look for volatiles or gases, which could one day help provide fuel or breathable oxygen for future expeditions.
Scheduled to land in Mons Mouton, the device landed approximately approx 11:30 a.m. 6 March, more than for 1300 feet (400 meters) from the planned landing place. Intuitive Machines stated, which images collected later confirmed, that the landing module was on its side, which did not allow him to fully work with a drill and other tools before that, how his batteries will run out.
The apparatus as part of the IM-2 mission landed closer to the South Pole of the Moon than any previous lander.
Intuitive Machines has two more missions for NASA in the future: The IM-3 mission is scheduled for 2026 year and mission of IM-4 — on 2027 year.
To date, five suppliers have received a total 11 orders under CLPS and ship more 50 instruments to different places on the Moon, including the far side of the Moon and the South Pole region. CLPS contracts are contracts with an indefinite delivery date and an indefinite quantity, with an aggregate maximum contract value 2,6 billion US dollars to 2028 year.