Another one bites the (Moon)dust!
This is Intuitive Machines' #IM2 lander that once again toppled over after trying to land on Mons Mouton near the lunar south pole.
The picture had lots of detail hidden in the shadows which I brought out in processing.
Comparing the new image with an earlier one, shows significant bending of even the top landing legs, telling me that all legs have touched the surface at one point.
According to the landing stream, the main engine continued to fire for several minutes after touchdown. #IM2
Another observation (that I can't take credit for):
The team seemed to have deployed the #PRIME-1 drill in a last ditch effort to get some science results.
With the lander on it's side, it's highly doubtful the drill has contact to the ground. #IM1
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/polar-resources-ice-mining-experiment-1-prime-1/
Since the #IM2 lander uses very wide angle fisheye lenses, I was able to make a partial 360° panorama from the image.
This gives a slightly better sense of scale and direction.
Since the capture time of the image wasn't published, I tried matching the Earth terminator and cloud patterns.
This area above the pacific ocean seems like a good match.
The approximate capture is Mar 7, 2:00 UTC. #IM2
Note that we are seeing the Earth "upside down" here and the North pole is slightly tilted towards us.
Alternative view via @zoom_earth: https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=23,-141.3,4z/date=2025-03-07,02:00/overlays=labels:off,lines:off
Not sure if it's my setup, but getting an error when it opens 360..
@PaulHammond51 @falken I can't replicate the error either.
If everything fails you can get the original from here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/semeion/54371780808
@stim3on
Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!
Space is really hard.
Posting this again. AkaSci explained the issue very clearly when IM-1 tipped over.
"When a lander is tipping, inertial forces push it over, while gravity pulls its feet back down flat. On the Moon, gravity is reduced by a factor of 6, but inertial forces are not. *Everything is 6 times tippier on the Moon.*
Also, having a low center of gravity and a large base helps gravity win over inertial forces."
https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/111987172986047432
Time to rethink top heavy tippy lunar landers.
@mastodonmigration @stim3on @AkaSci In addition to a low center-of-gravity/base ratio, the landing-gear needs *shock absorption*, otherwise the lander will bounce around until it tips on its side.
Why reinvent the wheel? There's already a good 
design that's been successfully tested with all Apollo lunar landings.
https://spaceq.ca/the-canadian-story-of-the-apollo-lunar-module-landing-legs/
The website includes documentation.
@stim3on Well, who would have thought. I feel sorry for them, but yeah. Top-heavy lander on a low-grav body is problematic.
Well, that's embarrassing...