Tag Archives: lunar

NASA Invites Media to Speak with Artemis II Moon Crew, Recovery Team – NASA

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Media are invited to speak with the four Artemis II astronauts on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Naval Base San Diego in California. The crew will fly around the Moon next year as part of NASAs Artemis campaign, marking the first astronauts to make the journey in more than 50 years.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense are conducting training with the crew in the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate the procedures and hardware needed to retrieve NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen after their approximately 10-day, 685,000-mile journey beyond the lunar far side and back.

The flight is the first crewed mission under NASAs Artemis campaign and will test the agencys Orion spacecraft life support systems needed for future lunar missions.

Attendees will be able to view hardware associated with the training, including a test version of Orion aboard the USS San Diego, and speak with other personnel from the agency and the Defense Department who are responsible for bringing the crew and the capsule to safety after the mission.

Media interested in attending must RSVP by 4 p.m. PST, Monday, Feb. 26, to Naval Base San Diego Public Affairs atnbsd.pao@us.navy.mil or 619-556-7359. The exact time of the planned afternoon Feb. 28 event is subject to the conclusion of testing activities.

Under Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.

For more about NASAs Artemis II mission, visit:

Artemis II

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Rachel Kraft Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

Madison Tuttle Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-298-5868 madison.e.tuttle@nasa.gov

Courtney Beasley Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov

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NASA Invites Media to Speak with Artemis II Moon Crew, Recovery Team - NASA

CLPS Landing: Intuitive Machines (IM-1) – NASA

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Intuitive Machines Nova-C-class lunar lander, launched on Thursday, Feb.15, is scheduled to land on the Moons South Pole region near the lunar feature known as Malapert A on Thursday, Feb. 22. This relatively flat and safe region is within the otherwise heavily cratered southern highlands on the side of the Moon visible from Earth. Landing near Malapert A will also help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from a location where Earth is low on the lunar horizon.

These deliveries are part of NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign, which includes new solar system science to better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term human exploration.

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CLPS Landing: Intuitive Machines (IM-1) - NASA

NASA Artemis Science, First Intuitive Machines Flight Head to Moon – NASA

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A suite of NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations is on the way to our nearest celestial neighbor for the benefit of humanity. Through this flight to the Moon, they will provide insights into the lunar surface environment and test technologies for future landers and Artemis astronauts.

At 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At approximately 1:53 a.m., the lander deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage. Teams confirmed it made communications contact with the companys mission operations center in Houston. The spacecraft is stable and receiving solar power.

These deliveries are part of NASAs CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, which includes new solar system science to better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term human exploration.

NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.

While enroute to the Moon, NASA instruments will measure the quantity of cryogenic engine fuel as it is used, and during descent toward the lunar surface, they will collect data on plume-surface interactions and test precision landing technologies.

Once on the Moon, NASA instruments will focus on investigating space weather/lunar surface interactions and radio astronomy. The Nova-C lander also will carry retroreflectors contributing to a network of location markers on the Moon for communication and navigation for future autonomous navigation technologies.

NASA science aboard the lander includes:

Intuitive Machines Nova-C-class lunar lander, named Odysseus, is scheduled to land on the Moons South Pole region near the lunar feature known as Malapert A on Thursday, Feb. 22. This relatively flat and safe region is within the otherwise heavily cratered southern highlands on the side of the Moon visible from Earth. Landing near Malapert A will also help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from a location where Earth is low on the lunar horizon.

The NASA science aboard will spend approximately seven days gathering valuable scientific data about Earths nearest neighbor, helping pave the way for the first woman and first person of color to explore the Moon under Artemis.

Learn more about NASAs CLPS initiative at:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

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Karen Fox / Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 / 202-358-2546 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Nilufar Ramji Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov

Antonia Jaramillo Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov

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NASA Artemis Science, First Intuitive Machines Flight Head to Moon - NASA

What time is SpaceX’s IM-1 private moon lander launch for Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15? – Space.com

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Update for Feb. 14: SpaceX is now aiming to launch the IM-1 moon lander mission for Intuitive Machines no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 15, due to a liquid methane temperature issue during preparations to fuel the Odysseus lander. You can read our story and see the updated times for the mission below.

SpaceX will launch a privately built lunar lander to the moon for the company Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15, and if you want to know where and when it will lift off, we've got you covered.

The IM-1 mission, as it's called, will launch Intuitive Machines' first Nova-C spacecraft to the moon from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in a predawn flight atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT).

If all goes well, the Nova-C lander (Intuitive Machines has named it Odysseus) is expected to land on the moon on Feb. 22 to deliver experiments for NASA and commercial customers to the lunar surface under a $118 million contract with NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Here's how and when to watch it launch.

Currently, SpaceX and Intuitive Machines plan to launch the Odysseus lander early Thursday, Feb. 15, from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff is set for 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT).

SpaceX must launch the IM-1 mission during a three-day window this week, which opens on Feb. 14, in order for the Odysseus lander to reach its landing day target of Feb. 22, NASA and Intuitive Machines officials have said. SpaceX originally hoped to launch the mission in January but had to delay the flight after a ripple of other SpaceX launch delays due to bad weather.

An attempt to launch the mission on Feb. 14 at the start of the IM-1 launch window was delayed due to off-nominal methane fuel temperatures ahead of the loading process for the Odysseus moon lander, SpaceX has said.

Yes, you'll be able to watch SpaceX's IM-1 launch for Intuitive Machines and NASA online for free in one of several livestreams. Our guide on how to watch SpaceX launch the IM-1 moon lander has everything you need to know.

NASA will provide a livestream of the launch beginning at 12:20 a.m. EST (0520 GMT) that will be broadcast on NASA TV, the agency's NASA+ streaming channel and its website.

SpaceX will also provide a launch webcast on its X account (formerly Twitter), starting at least 45 minutes before liftoff.

Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines will host the same NASA webcast on its own IM-1 mission website during the launch webcast. Space.com will host a simulcast of NASA's webcast on our homepage, the top of this page and likely our YouTube channel.

During the launch webcast, viewers will be able to see SpaceX's final minutes of prelaunch preparation for the Falcon 9 rocket, which typically includes final fueling for launch. About eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth and land at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, an event that will also be webcast. IM-1 will mark the 18th flight for the mission's Falcon 9 first stage.

Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission will send the Nova-C lander Odysseus to the moon on a 16-day mission that, if successful, will mark the first-ever private landing on the moon and the first U.S. landing on the lunar surface since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

If SpaceX launches the Odysseus lander on time, Intuitive Machines' mission plan calls for a nine-day trip to the moon, followed by a seven-day stay on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines aims to land the Odysseus spacecraft in Malapert A, a satellite crater of the nearly 43-mile-wide (69 kilometers) Malapert Crater near the moon's south pole.

The mission will end when the two-week long lunar night begins, according to a mission overview.

It is unclear exactly how long NASA and SpaceX will livestream the IM-1 mission's flight after launch, but the webcast is expected to run through at least the landing of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage eight minutes after liftoff. SpaceX and NASA may opt to provide live coverage through spacecraft separation, so we'll have to wait and see.

If SpaceX is unable to launch the IM-1 mission on Feb. 15, the company will have at least one more chances this week, depending on the reason for a delay.

SpaceX, NASA and Intuitive Machines have a three-day window that includes launch opportunities on Feb. 14, Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 before SpaceX would have to stand down until some time in March, according to Trent Martin, vice president of lunar access for Intuitive Machines. A launch on Feb. 15 would take place at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT), according to SpaceX. A potential delay to Feb. 16 could likely shift slightly later in the 1 a.m. hour.

Regardless of which day IM-1 launches during this week's window, the Odysseus lander would still be on target for a Feb. 22 moon landing, Martin added.

"If we were to push into the March window, it is also a three-day window, and we're coordinating with SpaceX and that as well," Martin told reporters in a Jan. 31 briefing.

Complicating the launch options for IM-1 is NASA's Crew-8 astronaut mission, which SpaceX is also scheduled to launch from KSC's Pad 39A this month. That mission, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, was originally scheduled to launch on Feb. 22.

"Right now, we're working towards the 22nd, with the possibility of going later depending what happens with IM," NASA associate administrator Jim Free told reporters in a Feb. 5 press conference, referring to the Crew-8 mission.

On Tuesday (Feb. 13), NASA and SpaceX delayed the Crew-8 launch to Feb. 28.

Editor's note: This story was update at 12:30 am ET on Feb. 14 to include the new launch date and time due to a SpaceX delay.

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What time is SpaceX's IM-1 private moon lander launch for Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15? - Space.com

US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission – The Jerusalem Post

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A moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was launched from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to conduct the first US lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft.

The company's Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk' SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

A live NASA-SpaceX online video feed showed the two-stage, 25-story rocket roaring off the launch pad and streaking into the dark sky over Florida's Atlantic coast, trailed by a fiery yellowish plume of exhaust.

The launch, previously set for Wednesday morning, was postponed for 24 hours because of irregular temperatures detected in liquid methane used in the lander's propulsion system. SpaceX said the issue was later resolved.

Although considered an Intuitive Machines mission, the IM-1 flight is carrying six NASA payloads of instruments designed to gather data about the lunar environment ahead of NASA's planned return of astronauts to the moon later this decade.

Thursday's launch came a month after the lunar lander of another private firm, Astrobotic Technology, suffered a propulsion system leak on its way to the moon shortly after being placed in orbit on Jan. 8 by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket making its debut flight.

The failure of Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, which was also flying NASA payloads to the moon, marked the third time a private company had been unable to achieve a "soft landing" on the lunar surface, following ill-fated efforts by companies from Israel and Japan.

Those mishaps illustrated the risks NASA faces in leaning more heavily on the commercial sector than it had in the past to realize its spaceflight goals.

Plans call for Intuitive Machines' Nova-C vehicle, a hexagonal cylinder with four legs, to reach its destination after about a weeklong flight on Feb. 22 for a landing at crater Malapert A near the moon's south pole.

If successful, the flight would represent the first controlled descent to the lunar surface by a US spacecraft since the final Apollo crewed moon mission in 1972, and the first by a private company.

The feat also would mark the first journey to the lunar surface under NASA's Artemis moon program, as the US races to return astronauts to Earth's natural satellite before China lands its own crewed spacecraft there.

IM-1 is the latest test of NASA's strategy of paying for the use of spacecraft built and owned by private companies to slash the cost of the Artemis missions, envisioned as precursors to human exploration of Mars.

By contrast, during the Apollo era, NASA bought rockets and other technology from the private sector, but owned and operated them itself.

NASA announced last month that it was delaying its target date for a first crewed Artemis moon landing from 2025 to late 2026, while China has said it was aiming for 2030.

Small landers such as Nova-C are expected to get there first, carrying instruments to closely survey the lunar landscape, its resources and potential hazards. Odysseus will focus on space weather interactions with the moon's surface, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies and navigation.

Intuitive Machine's IM-2 mission is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole in 2024, followed by an IM-3 mission later in the year with several small rovers.

Last month, Japan became the fifth country to place a lander on the moon, with its space agency JAXA achieving an unusually precise "pinpoint" touchdown of its SLIM probe last month. Last year, India became the fourth nation to land on the moon, after Russia failed in an attempt the same month.

The United States, the former Soviet Union and China are the only other countries that have carried out successful soft lunar touchdowns. China scored a world first in 2019 by achieving the first landing on the far side of the moon.

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US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission - The Jerusalem Post

How NASA’s moon landing with Intuitive Machines will help pave the way for Artemis astronaut missions – Space.com

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NASA hopes a robotic moon landing this month will help prep the lunar ground for astronauts a few years from now.

Intuitive Machines' Nova-Cmoonlander, named Odysseus after the mythical Trojan War voyager, is scheduled to launch early Wednesday morning (Feb. 14) on a SpaceXFalcon 9rocket.

The Valentine's Day launch will happen from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in coastal Florida. If all goes according to plan, Odysseus will touch down near the moon's south pole on Feb. 22, pulling off the first-ever private lunar landing.

Odysseus' mission, known as IM-1, includes 12 payloads, half commercial and half NASA science packages. NASA is using this research to get ready for the Artemis program missions that will land astronauts near the moon's south pole, beginning in 2026 or so.

Related: Intuitive Machines moon lander to carry tiny NASA cameras to study lunar surface (video)

IM-1 is part of the series of low-cost private moon missions that include NASA-funded instruments, which are manifested via the agency's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) program.

Each of these private robotic missions is small in cost individually, with the tradeoff being fewer backup systems in case of trouble. That tradeoff was illustrated vividly by the first CLPS mission, which launched Astrobotic's Peregrine lander last month. Peregrine suffered an anomaly shortly after deploying from its United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, scuttling its moon dreams. Peregrine ended up coming back home for a controlled destruction in Earth's atmosphere.

Smaller and cheaper missions allow NASA to test technologies faster than traditional mission planning allows for, emphasized Susan Lederer, CLPS project scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, during a teleconference today (Feb. 12). The high risk is worth it, as "this will allow us to prepare for Artemis more efficiently," with more missions launching more frequently, Lederer said.

Another advantage is the proliferation of landing options if multiple CLPS missions succeed: There's "a far greater number of places you can go to on the moon and the diversity of people involved" if lots of CLPS missions reach the surface, Lederer said.

IM-1 will help NASA engineers learn about how to communicate from the moon's south pole, where staying in touch with Earth is a challenge due to our planet being at a "very, very low point on the horizon," Lederer said.

"The communications can kind of bounce along the terrain, coming and going," she added. "So, having a location that's close to the south pole will help us to start investigating those kinds of things that are happening."

Additionally, IM-1's equipment will be assessed for how well it performs in the harsh cold of the moon, including components such as solar panels and instruments. But even if that mission or some other CLPS landers don't make it, she emphasized, NASA will proceed with plans for its Artemis 3 mission, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole in September 2026.

"It won't endanger efficiency," Lederer said.

The experiments on board IM-1 from NASA include "instruments focusing on plume-surface (dust) interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies," the agency's website states.

Editor's note: This story was corrected at 5:15 p.m. ET on Feb. 12 to state that IM-1 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, not Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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How NASA's moon landing with Intuitive Machines will help pave the way for Artemis astronaut missions - Space.com