A potentially history-making special lunar mission is underway.
Odysseus, the robotic lunar lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida early this morning (February 15).
If all goes as planned, Odysseus will land near the Moon’s south pole on February 22 and will be the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon. Success would also be a big deal for the United States, which has not been on the lunar surface since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission more than half a century ago.
“This is an incredibly humbling moment for all of us at Intuitive Machines,” Trent Martin, the company’s vice president of space systems, said at a pre-launch press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
“The opportunity to return the United States to the moon for the first time since 1972 requires a hunger for discovery, and that is at the heart of everyone at Intuitive Machines,” he added.
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A smooth launch (and rocket landing)
Falcon 9 lifted off from KSC’s Pad 39A today at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT). Approximately 7.5 minutes later, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth for a vertical descent to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station adjacent to the NASA site.
According to SpaceX’s mission description, this was the 18th launch and landing of this booster. That’s just one short of the reuse record the company set last December.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage continued to advance skyward, eventually placing Odysseus into a lunar transfer orbit approximately 48.5 minutes after launch as planned.
The 1,490-pound (675-kilogram) lander, which is about the size of a British telephone booth (or the TARDIS from “Dr. Who” if you’re a sci-fi fan), made its first contact with the mission. Check after a few minutes.
Odysseus will soon begin heading into lunar orbit on a six-day journey. Odysseus then prepares for his historic landing attempt, which will take place at Malapert A, a small crater about 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the moon’s south pole.
NASA will be watching the landing attempt with particular interest because the space agency has so much in store for Odysseus and its current mission, known as IM-1.
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NASA booked a trip to IM-1 through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to enable agency science to reach the Moon more cost-effectively by leveraging the capabilities of dedicated American robotic landers.
These instruments are designed to collect data to help NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a manned base near the moon’s south pole by the late 2020s. This region is thought to be rich in water ice that could be converted into rocket fuel, which could support Artemis astronauts on the surface and also allow the crew to refuel the spacecraft far from Earth.
Odysseus carries six NASA instruments aboard IM-1, which were put on board under a NASA contract worth $118 million. NASA officials said it cost the agency an additional $11 million to develop and build the scientific equipment.
Here’s a brief summary of these NASA science instruments:
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ROLSES (Radio Observations of the Lunar Surface Photoelectron Envelope) will characterize the electron plasma and radio environments near IM-1’s landing site;
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The LRA (Laser Retro-Reflector Array), a small set of reflectors, will serve as a guide to help future landers make precision landings on the moon;
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NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Detection) will use LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to collect super-precise data during Odysseus’ descent and landing;
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SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies) will study how Odysseus’ exhaust plume interacted with the Moon’s soil and rocks during descent, collecting data that could inform future Artemis landing designs;
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LN-1 (Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator), a small radio navigation beacon, will demonstrate autonomous spacecraft positioning technology that could aid future lunar rovers and landers and eventually become part of a larger, GPS-like system on and around the moon;
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The RFMG (Radio Frequency Mass Meter statement) will use radio waves to measure how much fuel is left in Odysseus’ tank; This is a difficult thing to do in microgravity.
Odysseus also carries six commercial payloads for various customers, including Columbia Sportswear, which will test its “Omni-Heat Infinity” insulation material on the IM-1.
Other special payloads include sculptures by artist Jeff Koons and a “secure lunar repository” intended to help preserve all human knowledge in case something terrible happens on Earth.
Also flying on IM-1 is the EagleCam, built by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students. This camera system will turn on from Odysseus as it approaches the lunar surface and attempt to take photos of the landing.
You can learn more about all IM-1 payloads through the Intuitive Machines press kit, available here.
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2nd attempt on the 1st of the month
IM-1 is not the first CLPS effort to launch towards the moon. Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander began the first mission of United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket on January 8.
The launch went well, but Peregrine suffered a crippling fuel leak from the rocket’s upper stage shortly after launch. After quite a long saga, the lunar lander caused a controlled destruction of the Earth’s atmosphere on January 18.
As Peregrine’s example shows, participating in a lunar mission remains a challenging task, especially for a dedicated spacecraft. So there is no guarantee that Odysseus will be successful, especially at this early stage of the game. NASA next used Intuitive Machines for two additional lunar missions, and the agency plans to carry payloads on future commercial landers as well.
“We’ve always viewed these first CLPS deliveries as kind of a learning experience where we’re all going to learn and find out how it goes,” said Joel Kearns, associate administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters. he said during a pre-launch teleconference on Tuesday.
“We learn from every initiative, not just those in the United States, but we also watch the initiatives of some of our allies and some of our competitors,” he added.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 2:15 a.m. ET on Feb. 15 with news of the successful spacecraft deployment.