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Media Oasis Keeps Pace with Major Events in Saudi Arabia

The Media Oasis presents the Kingdom’s major national projects to international media delegations - (SPA)
The Media Oasis presents the Kingdom’s major national projects to international media delegations - (SPA)
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Media Oasis Keeps Pace with Major Events in Saudi Arabia

The Media Oasis presents the Kingdom’s major national projects to international media delegations - (SPA)
The Media Oasis presents the Kingdom’s major national projects to international media delegations - (SPA)

The fourth edition of the Media Oasis was launched in Riyadh on Friday with the aim of developing media coverage on major occasions and national events.

The Media Oasis, which coincides with the Kingdom’s hosting of three high-level summits this week, provides a cutting-edge space and an interactive environment for media professionals.

Stretching over 18,000 square meters, the Media Oasis showcases over 30 major national transformational projects, including NEOM, across six pavilions highlighting the developmental accomplishments of these initiatives.

The Oasis includes seven zones, namely the Welcome Zone, the Saudi Hospitality, the Communication, the Oasis Valley, the Cultural Bridge, and the Oasis Suites and Theater.

The Media Oasis is held in collaboration with key entities such as the Ministry of Sports, the Royal Commission for AlUla Governorate, the Aseer Region Development Authority, the Diriyah Company, the Saudi Fund for Development, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the Saudi Export and Import (EXIM) Bank, the Sports Boulevard Project, the Konoz Initiative, the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (TRITA), and Jahez Company.

Saudi Arabia hosted on Friday the first Saudi-African Union Summit, and will hold on Saturday the Extraordinary Arab Summit and the Extraordinary Islamic Summit to discuss the developments in Gaza.

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Intuitive Machines' Athena Lander Closing in on Lunar Touchdown Site

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
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Intuitive Machines' Athena Lander Closing in on Lunar Touchdown Site

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

Intuitive Machines sent final commands to its uncrewed Athena spacecraft on Thursday as it closed in on a landing spot near the moon's south pole, the company's second attempt to score a clean touchdown after making a lopsided landing last year.

After launching atop a SpaceX rocket on Feb. 26 from Florida, the six-legged Athena lander has flown a winding path to the moon some 238,000 miles (383,000 km) away from Earth, where it will attempt to land closer to the lunar south pole than any other spacecraft.

The landing is scheduled for 12:32 pm ET (1732 GMT). It will target Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole, Reuters reported.

Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past - the then-Soviet Union, the US, China, India and, last year, Japan. The US and China are both rushing to put their astronauts on the moon later this decade, each courting allies and giving their private sectors a key role in spacecraft development.

India's first uncrewed moon landing, Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, touched down near the lunar south pole. The region is eyed by major space powers for its potential for resource extraction once humans return to the surface - subsurface water ice could theoretically be converted into rocket fuel.

The Houston-based company's first moon landing attempt almost exactly a year ago, using its Odysseus lander, marked the most successful touchdown attempt at the time by a private company.

But its hard touchdown - due to a faulty laser altimeter used to judge its distance from the ground - broke a lander leg and caused the craft to topple over, dooming many of its onboard experiments.

Austin-based Firefly Aerospace this month celebrated a clean touchdown of its Blue Ghost lander, making the most successful soft landing by a private company to date.

Intuitive Machines, Firefly, Astrobotic Technology and a handful of other companies are building lunar spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an effort to seed development of low-budget spacecraft that can scour the moon's surface before the US sends astronauts there around 2027.