SpaceX today successfully launched a spacecraft on a mission to the moon—and it could land on the lunar surface as early as next week. If successful, it will be the first spacecraft from the U.S. to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
The 1M-1 mission is the work of Houston, Texas-based Intuitive Machines, which will attempt to soft-land its Nova-C lander at the moon’s South Pole on Thursday, February 22. If successful, it will operate for one lunar day—about 14 Earth days.
It comes in the wake of Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission, which failed to get to the moon after a propellant leak, eventually crashing back to Earth. Just a few weeks ago Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ rover made a pinpoint landing, making Japan only the fourth nation to successfully soft-land on the moon, joining the U.S, China and the Soviet Union.
Successful Launch
After a delay of 24 hours due to temperature issues in the lander, today’s launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, took place at 06:05 UT (1:05 a.m. EST) on February 15 and saw the spacecraft launch atop a reusable Falcon 9 rocket. Its booster landed safely back at Cape Canaveral. The deployment of IM-1 on its journey to the moon was quickly confirmed by SpaceX.
Powered Descent
The lander, nicknamed Odysseus, is about twice as big as a king-size bed. It has six legs and a cylinder shape. Its powered descent will reduce its velocity by about 1,800 meters per second and its landing sequence will last approximately two minutes.
It is due to touchdown—after a demo of Intuitive Machines’ precision landing technology—on the moon at a crater called Malapert A. Close to the moon’s south pole, parts of Malapert A’s interior remain in almost constant darkness.
Suite Of Missions
Odysseus is carrying five NASA payloads and will perform experiments involving radio astronomy and space weather, among others.
IM-1 is part of NASA’s CLPS program to get private industry to build the hardware it needs. Part of the space agency’s Artemis program of moon landings, IM-1 is the first of a suite of missions from Intuitive Machines. Its IM-2 mission is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole in 2024, and its IM-3 mission is taking NASA payloads and a rover to explore the moon’s strange “lunar swirl” called Reiner Gamma on the western edge of the moon, as seen from Earth.
NASA’s Artemis Missions
NASA recently delayed its Artemis II flight test—the first mission with crew aboard its SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft—to September 2025. The 10-day mission is designed to pave the way for Artemis III to land two crew on the lunar surface—again close to the south pole. It’s scheduled for no earlier than September 2026.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
