A SpaceX Falon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander has been launched and will reach the moon next week.
The lander, named Odysseus, lifted off the SpaceX rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It comes after the planned launch on Tuesday, February 13 was postponed for two days later.
It’s part of the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign.
Its first lunar mission will carry six NASA science payloads to the moon to study space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, plume-surface interactions, precision landing technologies and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.
Odysseus is scheduled to land on Thursday, February 22, on the moon’s South Pole region, near the lunar feature Malapert A.
It is a flat and safe region within the heavily cratered southern highlands on the rock and is visible from Earth.
NASA says landing near Malapert A will help mission partners understand how to communicate and send back data to and from Earth.
NASA wrote: “The group of NASA instruments aboard IM-1 will conduct scientific research and demonstrate technologies to help us better understand the Moon’s environment and improve landing precision and safety in the challenging conditions of the lunar south polar region, paving the way for future Artemis astronaut missions.
“The payloads will collect data on how the plume of engine gasses interacts with the Moon’s surface and kicks up lunar dust, investigate radio astronomy and space weather interactions with the lunar surface, test precision landing technologies, and measure the quantity of liquid propellant in Nova-C propellant tanks in the zero gravity of space.
“The Nova-C lander will also carry a retroreflector array that will contribute to a network of location markers on the Moon that will be used as a position marker for decades to come.”
The CLPS initiative is part of NASA, which is working with several American companies to deliver science and technology to the moon. Under Artemis, deliveries, which began last year, will perform science experiments, test technologies and help NASA explore the lunar surface as it prepares for human missions.
CLPS contracts are indefinite quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract of $2.6 billion through 2028.
The six payloads include:
LN-1 (Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator)
A small, CubeSat-sized flight hardware experiment that integrates navigation and communication functionality for autonomous navigation to support future surface and orbital operations.
Principal investigator: Dr. Evan Anzalone, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array)
A collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between an orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. LRA is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.
Principal investigator: Dr. Xiaoli Sun, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing)
A Lidar-based (Light Detection and Ranging) descent and landing sensor. This instrument operates on the same principles of radar but uses pulses from a laser emitted through three optical telescopes. NDL will measure vehicle velocity (speed and direction) and altitude (distance to surface) with high precision during descent to touchdown.
Principal investigator: Dr. Farzin Amzajerdian, NASA’s Langley Research Center
RFMG (Radio Frequency Mass Gauge)
A rocket propellant gauge used to measure the amount of spacecraft propellant in a low-gravity space environment. Using sensor technology, RFMG will measure the amount, or mass, of cryogenic propellants in Nova-C’s tanks, providing data that can help predict propellant usage on future missions.
Principal investigator: Dr. Greg Zimmerli, NASA’s Glenn Research Center
ROLSES (Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath)
Four antennas and a low-frequency radio receiver system designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface and determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with science investigations. It will also detect radio emissions from the Sun, Jupiter, and Earth, as well as dust impacting the surface of the Moon.
Principal investigator: Dr. Nat Gopalswamy, NASA Goddard
SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies)
A suite of four cameras to capture stereo and still images of the dust plume created by the lander’s engine as it begins its descent to the lunar surface until after the engine shuts off.
Principal investigator: Michelle Munk, NASA Langley
