INFICON Holding AG

03/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/06/2026 07:38

Revisiting the Historic Southernmost Lunar Landing

  1. Revisiting the Historic Southernmost Lunar Landing

Revisiting the Historic Southernmost Lunar Landing

INFICON instrument marks the first commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer to land on the lunar surface.

One year ago, a robotic lunar lander armed with INFICON technology made history when it attempted to go where no other had before: the lunar south pole.

During the IM-2 mission on March 6, 2025, Intuitive Machines' Athena made the southernmost lunar landing in history. On board for this historical journey was NASA's MSolo instrument (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations), which is powered by the INFICON Transpector® MPH quadruple commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer.

This mission not only marked a crucial step toward sustainable space exploration but reinforced the ability to advance space exploration through industrial technology manufacturers and space agencies.

The Importance of the Lunar South Pole

The IM-2 mission to the lunar south pole was to better understand the composition and resources of the moon's surface. This information will help NASA identify landing sites and a landing base for future astronaut-led moon missions.

At the center of that effort is one resource above all others: water. Believed to be frozen just below the lunar surface, water can be used to create oxygen for astronauts and hydrogen for rocket fuel. Its presence can make long-term space exploration more feasible and affordable. The INFICON mass spectrometer had been ruggedized for space to identify gases that signal water presence.

The goal upon landing was to drill 1 meter into the regolith to measure and quantify isotopic ratios to help identify the provenance of the lunar water, as well as measure any other possible volatiles present.

Photo courtesy of NASA

The Challenges of a Southernmost Landing

The lunar south pole is an extreme, rugged, and challenging environment. The sun creates deep shadows and bright highlights that complicate navigation. Temperatures can swing hundreds of degrees. And uneven terrain makes landing a challenging task - proven on this very mission.

While Athena successfully completed its descent and touched down farther south than any mission before, the moon's environmental factors caused it to just miss its targeted location and land on its side inside a small crater, preventing effective solar panel recharging and the ability to drill into the regolith.

Because the drill could not be activated, it was not possible to measure the gases NASA was targeting below the surface. However, MSolo was operational during the space transit and at the lunar surface, and continued to function for several hours until the lander's battery was depleted, and the mass spectrometer successfully operated collecting gas composition and volatile data from space and at the lunar surface (136 full spectra).

While operations were short, the mission still proved that commercial missions can reach one of the moon's most demanding locations and that critical technology can perform as required for lunar exploration.

Future Exploration Missions Ahead

INFICON is proud that our Transpector MPH quadruple mass spectrometer will participate in at least two more missions: a Joint NASA-Blue Origin mission called VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) and a commercial space resource exploration mission.

For the VIPER mission, the Transpector MPH will map water resources using a rover moving around the permanent shadow regions of the moon. The second mission will explore the abundance of helium-3 and other volatile resources on the lunar regolith. He-3 is important because it is very limited on Earth and potentially abundant at the lunar surface; it is used in nuclear fusion energy reactors, as well as for quantum computing systems, triggering a circular space economy.

"We are excited to contribute to these new lunar endeavors by delivering technologies that enable deeper scientific exploration and broader innovation opportunities in space," said Hannah Henley, President INFICON Inc.

INFICON Holding AG published this content on March 06, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 06, 2026 at 13:38 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]