In the early hours of 27 February 2025, at 00:30 Central European Time, the launch window opens for the IM-2 mission, carrying the Athena lander from the US New Space company Intuitive Machines on its second mission to the Moon. On board is the Lunar RADiometer (LRAD), a scientific instrument developed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the Institute of Geological Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) for measuring temperatures without contact. On 22 February 2024, Intuitive Machines became the first space company in the world to successfully land on the Moon – at 80 degrees south latitude, near the Malapert-A crater. The Athena landing module, part of Intuitive Machines’ second mission, is now also set to touch down in the Moon's southern polar region near Mons Mouton, where it will search for water ice using a drill and a mass spectrometer.