3.03.2025

The first company to soft land a spacecraft on the moon is now on its way to doing it again — and even more.

Intuitive Machines' second Nova-C lander has set course for the lunar south pole, having left Earth on Wednesday (Feb. 26). Riding atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the robotic probe lifted off at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 GMT on Feb. 27) on a trailblazing mission to test new ways to explore, communicate and conduct science on the moon.

"[With] our 10-day surface mission ... we believe we are setting the stage for future Artemis missions," said Trent Martin, senior vice president for space systems at Intuitive Machines, during a press conference held four hours before the launch.

For the first two a half minutes of flight, the IM-2 mission powered by a first stage booster that previously supported eight other launches, including Crew-8, Polaris Dawn and SpaceX's 31st resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Named "Athena" after the Greek goddess and divine counselor to Odysseus — the latter the namesake for Intuitive Machines' first Nova-C lander — the IM-2 spacecraft is following a similar trajectory as to the company's first mission in February 2024. Now safely in Earth orbit, Athena will initiate a self-checkout of its systems before firing its main engine to begin its week-long transit to the moon.

Should all proceed as planned — including additional engine burns to adjust its approach, enter and then refine its orbit around the moon — Athena will descend to Mons Mouton, a lunar highland located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the moon's south pole, on Thursday, March 6. With the lessons learned from IM-1, Intuitive Machines expects Athena to "stick" the landing, improving upon the landing made by Odysseus that left the lander functioning but missing at least one leg and resting on its side.

Hop, rove and connect

While Athena does not have the ability to move once its six footpads are planted on the lunar surface, the lander is carrying three vehicles designed to explore the surrounding area. Lunar Outpost's MAPP (Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform) and Dymon Company's Yaoki rover will extend the mission's footprint, with MAPP expected to become the first commercial rover to roll across another celestial body.

Athena is also equipped with Intuitive Machines' Micro Nova Hopper, which will propulsively jump up to 1.25 miles (2.4 kilometers) away from the lander with the aim of descending into a permanently shadowed crater to seek the presence of water ice. The hopper is named "Grace" after the pioneering mathematician and computer programmer Grace Hopper.

Further, Athena will deploy NASA's PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1) payload, which will demonstrate boring down to 3 feet (0.9 meters) below the moon's surface to look for the presence of volatiles. PRIME-1 is a two-instrument suite made up of a drill (TRIDENT, The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) and a mass spectrometer (MSolo, Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations). MSolo will be the first use of an off-the-shelf mass spectrometer ruggedized for spaceflight.

Nokia's Lunar Surface Communications System will establish a 4G/LTE network to connect Athena with its rovers and hopper, enabling data transfer and control, while the lander transmits scientific data and imagery, including relays through the first physical data center beyond Earth, a device called "Freedom" from Lonestar Data Holdings.

And, as was on Odysseus, Columbia Sportswear's OMNI-Heat Infinity insulation is on board Athena to protect key systems from the extreme temperatures in space and on the moon. For IM-2, OMNI-Heat Infinity blankets are covering the lander's helium tanks, while Columbia's OMNI-Shade Sun Deflector is being used to shield Athena's top deck.

Third up, second down

Athena is the third spacecraft to be launched in 2025 on a mission to land on the moon. Given their different paths to reach the surface, Intuitive Machines' lander may be the second to get there.

First is Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which left Earth on Jan. 15, and is slated to land in Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") no earlier than 3:45 a.m. EST (0845 GMT) on Sunday, March 2. Like Athena, Blue Ghost is carrying NASA science instruments as part of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Also on its way is the Resilience lander and Tenacity rover, ispace's second try at a successful landing landing since 2023. The company, which has offices in Japan, Luxembourg and the United States, has targeted its M2 mission to land at the far north of the moon's near side, with a touchdown anticipated between late May and early June.

Should that order hold, then IM-2 will be the 155th attempt at a moon missionsince 1958, including flybys, orbiters, impactors and landers. Athena, if successful, will be the 28th lander to safely touch down on the lunar surface.

Quelle: CS