Intuitive Machines readies for historic Moon landing
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Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, entering lunar orbit on Monday. Photo: Intuitive Machines via NASA
History is set to be made on the Moon again this week, with Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission Nova-C class lunar lander Athena scheduled to land there at 12:32pm ET on Thursday.
The big picture: Intuitive Machines has partnered with Lunar Outpost to roll out the first commercial rover on the Moon and with Finnish multinational tech firm Nokia to deliver the first cellular network on Earth's only natural satellite.
- This mission comes after the Cedar Park, Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander achieved on Sunday the first successful commercial Moon landing.
State of play: Intuitive Machines' second lunar mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services ("CLPS") initiative, which allows the agency to hire private space companies to deliver its lunar instruments.
- Athena is "slated to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon's South Pole, as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence," per a NASA statement.
- It will be carrying "NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations," the space agency added.
What to expect: "Two device modules make up additional components of Nokia's LSCS, and they have been installed in two lunar mobility vehicles: Intuitive Machines' Micro-Nova Hopper and Lunar Outpost's Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover," per a Nokia statement.
- "Upon landing on the Moon, the two vehicles are designed to deploy on the lunar surface where they would immediately use the Nokia device modules to establish connections to the network on Athena."
- The rover will deploy Nokia's 4G/LTE antennas to establish connection on the Moon.
Zoom in: The Lunar Outpost MAPP is on a mission to explore the uncharted territory of the Moon's South Pole — which the Arvada, Colorado-headquartered firm noted in a statement is "a region critical to future lunar infrastructure and sustainability."
- It will also "execute the first sale of space resources with NASA" through the collection of regolith, rock and dust from the Moon's surface and "gather critical data to shape the future of lunar exploration," Lunar Outpost added.
- Meanwhile, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AstroAnt robotic swarm prototype will "wheel around MAPP's roof to take temperature readings and monitor its operation," according to Lunar Outpost.
The intrigue: Lego announced on Friday it was "teaming up" with Lunar Outpost "over a shared love of space, the exploration of space and building ridiculously cool things," telling fans to watch out for "a future product and more than a few surprises along the way."
- The Danish toymaker also published a cryptic post on the matter on Facebook:
- When asked for comment on the partnership, a spokesperson for Lunar Outpost said in an emailed statement on Wednesday night "yes, we're partnered with LEGO, but there's not much more I can share quite yet... More to come!"
How to watch: The mission landing will be live-streamed on Intuitive Machines' YouTube channel and on the NASA+ streaming service on Thursday.
- Broadcast is due to begin at 11:30am ET.
What's next: The mission team will "begin transmitting the first images, data, and discoveries from the Moon's surface over Nokia's LSCS using a device module integrated in the MAPP rover," per a Lunar Outpost statement.
Go deeper: The race to tap the Moon's immense value
