2025年2月28日
Athena to the Moon
Image Credit: Intuitive Machines
Explanation: Planet Earth hangs in the background of this space age selfie. The snapshot was captured by the IM-2 Nova-C lander Athena, just after stage separation following its February 26 launch to the Moon. A tall robotic lander, Athena is scheduled to touch down on Thursday, March 6, in Mons Mouton, a plateau near the Moon’s South Pole. The intended landing site is in the central portion of one of the Artemis 3 potential landing regions. Athena carries rovers and experiments as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, including a drill intended to explore beneath the lunar surface in a search for evidence of frozen water. It also carries a propulsive drone dubbed the Micro Nova Hopper. After release to the lunar surface, the autonomous drone is intended to hop into a nearby crater and send science data back to the lander.
Tomorrow’s picture: light-weekend
雅典娜号前往月球
影像提供: Intuitive Machines 直觉机器公司
说明: 在这张太空时代的自拍照里，地球只是背景的悬浮点缀。这张快照是由发射前往月球的IM-2任务之Nova-C级登月器雅典娜号所拍摄，时值运载火箭成功进行推进级分离后不久。无人的雅典娜号登月器，规划于3月6日（星期四） 降落在月球南极高原地区的穆顿山附近。此着陆点，也是阿尔特弥斯3号任务可能登月区之一的核心。作为美国国家航空航天局“商业月球有效载荷服务计划（CLPS）”任务之一的雅典娜号，携带了月球车及多项实验设备，其中包括钻探设备，以探索月球表层之下，寻找冻结水存在的证据。此外，它也携带了名为微型新星号跳跃器的喷射推进式无人探测器。这部自主飞行的无人机在布署到月球表面后，规划要跳入邻近的陨石坑内进行探索，并把科学数据传送到登月器。
（注：IM-2 Nova-C lander Athena IM-2任务的Nova-C级登月器雅典娜号；IM-2 直觉机器公司2号任务；Nova-C lander 新星C级登月器；Athena 雅典娜号；Micro Nova Hopper 微型新星号跳跃器）
明日的图片: light-weekend
