A Houston-based company will attempt to land NASA science on the Moon less than a month after another company failed to reach the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon lander named Odysseus, or “Odie,” is slated to launch no earlier than Wednesday at 12:57 a.m. EST on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center launchpad 39A. If the launch delays, Intuitive Machines said it has a “multi-day launch window.”
No private company has ever successfully landed on the Moon. An attempt by Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, also part of NASA’s CLPS initiative, was foiled by mechanical issues in orbit after launching on the first Vulcan rocket flight with United Launch Alliance. Peregrine burned up in Earth’s atmosphere in mid-January, ending the first American Moon landing attempt.
Even government-managed mission success is not guaranteed. In January, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the Moon.
Now, Intuitive Machines aims to achieve the first private Moon landing.
“As we prepare to embark on our IM-1 mission to the Moon, we carry with us the collective spirit of perseverance, fueled by the dedication and hard work of everyone on our team,” Intuitive Machines President and CEO Steve Altemus said in a statement. “Their tireless efforts have brought us to this moment, where we stand on the precipice of history, humbled by the gravity of our mission, yet emboldened by the boundless possibilities that lie ahead.”
JAPAN’S MOON LANDER BACK UP AND RUNNING ON THE LUNAR SURFACE AFTER FACEPLANT LANDING
If the spaceflight goes well, the lander could touch down on the Moon as soon as Feb. 22.
The mission known as IM-1 will deliver six NASA science payloads and commercial technologies to a region of the lunar south pole known as Malapert. It’s also considered a potential landing site for NASA’s Artemis III mission, the first astronaut mission to the Moon since 1972. The hexagonal-shaped lander is about the size of the British phone box made famous as the time-traveling Tardis in the “Dr. Who” science-fiction series.
NASA plans to carry live launch coverage of the countdown online and on NASA TV beginning after midnight on Feb. 14.