Sonda lunar polivalente Athena infographic
A infografia explica os vários instrumentos transportados pela sonda lunar Athena.
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6 Mar: Sonda lunar Athena deverá aterrar na Lua

By Ninian Carter

March 6, 2025 - A sonda lunar Athena, de seis pernas, leva uma série de dispositivos para a superfície lunar, incluindo dois rovers e uma tremonha para estudar crateras.

A six-legged, almost five-metre-tall moon lander called Athena, is carrying a payload of devices to the lunar surface, including two rovers and a machine that hops about investigating craters.

Developed by Intuitive Machines, this is its second moon lander, due to touchdown on March 6, one year after its first attempt ended in failure when it tipped over on landing.

Upon setting down on a flat-topped mountain called Mons Mouton, some 160 kilometres from the lunar South Pole, solar-powered Athena will have 10 days to perform numerous experiments before the sun sets on the pole and it shuts down permanently.

The lander is packed full of scientific instruments, including a four-wheeled rover, a tiny two-wheeled rover from Japan called YAOKI, and the Micro Nova Hopper, dubbed “Grace”, that uses hydrazine thrusters to take off and land – travelling as far away as two kilometres from Athena.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 04/03/2025; STORY: Graphic News
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