If successful, Athena's landing will be the second by a private American company this year. Firefly Aerospace was the first to achieve this milestone on March 2. Its Blue Ghost lander successfully touched down near the Mare Crisium region on the near side of the Moon and has begun its two-weeks-long surface operations.

A private lunar lander, Athena, has sent back breathtaking images of Earth from space, capturing a unique view of our planet shortly after its launch. Built by Intuitive Machines, the lander lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast on February 26,

Intuitive Machines designed and will operate the Athena lunar lander on the company's second voyage to the moon's south pole to hunt for water.

Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander, named Athena, snapped some amazing shots of its home planet shortly after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 26.

If you haven’t been hit with the overview effect in a while, take a moment to look at these beautiful pictures from Athena, a Moon lander launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket earlier this week alongside other payloads.

Three private lunar landers are on their way to the moon right now, a surge of exploration never before seen in spaceflight history.