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Intuitive Machines on Friday declared an early end to its Athena moon mission after the lander touched down sideways a day earlier.

The Houston-based company has now suffered two landing mishaps in two years. A photo released Friday showed the lander’s legs in the air.

The company said the mission is over because the solar panels on the lander are not expected to be able to recharge it.

“With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” Intuitive Machines said on its website. “The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.”

Tipped again: Commercial lander on the moon but not upright

The company said it has activated what it could on the lander since touching down near the moon’s south pole Thursday as part of the IM-2 mission that launched Feb. 26 from Kennedy Space Center.

That includes the PRIME-1 drill, the primary payload flying as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. But on its side the drill was not able to dig into anything. read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Walgreens Boots Alliance says it has agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners as the struggling retailer looks to turn itself around after years of losing money.

SpaceX lost contact again in its latest test flight of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Texas, leading to the dramatic in-flight destruction of the Starship and grounding planes at several Florida airports, including Orlando International Airport.

The rocket was making its eighth suborbital launch attempt, and SpaceX was able to perform the third-ever catch of the booster back at the tower. The test flight came just under two months since the last attempt ended explosively over the Atlantic.

Video of the disintegrating Starship was once again captured across the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Caribbean and spotted from Florida as well.

SpaceX Starship Breaks Apart During Test Flight, Scattering Debris Over the Bahamas – March 6, 2025. pic.twitter.com/R20tsaHLoa

— UFO Community (@UFOcommunity) March 7, 2025

The Federal Aviation Administration put a ground stop at airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach through 8 p.m. OIA officials announced at 7:43 p.m. in a post on X that its ground stop had been lifted. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — A 40-day boycott of Target that calls for supporters to give up shopping at the company’s stores during the Lenten period kicked off this week, to protest the discount retailer’s decision to end some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.