Intuitive Machines' first mission to the Moon is already underway.
The company's Nova-C lander, called Odysseus, lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the early hours of Thursday morning. The spacecraft will now embark on an eight-day journey to the Moon, with a landing attempt planned for February 22.
Deployment of @Int_Machines IM-1 confirmed pic.twitter.com/daPrWFkVng
-SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 15, 2024
The spacecraft will first enter lunar orbit 24 hours before the landing attempt and will circle the Moon at an altitude of only 100 kilometers. The lander will then attempt to land near the Malapert A crater, near the Moon's south pole. Aboard Odysseus are six scientific and research payloads for NASA and six commercial payloads; The goal is that those who need access to the lunar surface can operate for up to seven days, until lunar night arrives.
One of the big challenges will come about 18 months after launch, when mission controllers will prepare for an “engine commissioning maneuver,” when the main engine fires for the first time. That engine uses liquid oxygen and liquid methane as propellants (similar to many rockets), which are difficult to store but very efficient. During this maneuver, engineers will be able to adjust the lander's trajectory.
The lander will execute two more burns to correct its trajectory before the spacecraft attempts a burn to insert it into lunar orbit. Flight controllers will perform this maneuver blindly, since the spacecraft will be on the far side of the moon and will not be able to send real-time updates. To descend, Odysseus will have to slow him down by about 1,800 meters per second; For the final 10-kilometer descent, the spacecraft will slow down to a rate of one meter per second.
“Descent from the terminal is like walking into a door and closing your eyes for the last three feet,” the company said. in a press kit about the mission. “You know you're close enough, but your inner ear must guide you through the door.”
If the company is successful, it will be the first time the United States has landed a spacecraft on the moon since 1972 and the first time a privately manufactured spacecraft has landed on the moon… in history.
This is a big moment for Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which has been developing technology for the moon (and working on this lander in particular) for years. The company went public via a SPAC merger last February to accelerate its plans, which include this mission and two additional missions to the moon for NASA that are already under contract.
This morning's launch was also a big moment for NASA, which paid Intuitive Machines about $118 million for the mission under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This is only the second lunar mission to be embarked under the CLPS program; the first, Astrobotic's Peregrine mission last month, did not reach the moon due to a catastrophic propulsion leak.
However, NASA officials are taking a broader view of the program, and NASA's deputy administrator for exploration in the science mission directorate said at a pre-launch press conference that these missions are “an experience Learning”.
“We didn't believe success was assured,” he said.