American private spacecraft is about to fly to the Moon
A private American spacecraft aiming to reach the moon will take off early Thursday morning. This is the private company’s second attempt this year after first failing in January.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines hopes to become the first non-governmental organization to soft-land on Earth’s natural satellite and land the first American robot since the Apollo mission more than five decades ago.
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A private American spacecraft aiming to reach the moon will take off early Thursday morning. This is the private company’s second attempt this year after first failing in January.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines hopes to become the first non-governmental organization to soft-land on Earth’s natural satellite and land the first American robot since the Apollo mission more than five decades ago.
The hexagonal-shaped Nova-C lander, called Odyssey, will take off at 01:05 local time on Thursday (0605 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission, called IM-1, was scheduled to depart Wednesday, but the launch was delayed after SpaceX detected abnormal temperatures while attempting to refuel the module.
The lunar lander is equipped with a new type of supercooled liquid methane-oxygen engine that provides power to quickly reach its destination while avoiding prolonged exposure to the high-radiation region surrounding Earth known as the Van Allen Belt.
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Despite the delay, the spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the Malapert A landing site – an impact crater located 300 kilometers from the moon’s south pole – on February 22.
In January, Astrobotic failed to reach the Moon due to a fuel leak and its lander had to be deliberately destroyed mid-flight.
NASA has commissioned private companies to fly scientific equipment to the natural satellite to better understand and reduce environmental risks for astronauts.
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The US space agency hopes to establish a long-term presence on the Moon and harvest ice for drinking water and rocket fuel as part of its Artemis program.
IA/ST/CJC/MAS