CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A private company launched one other lunar lander Wednesday, aiming to get nearer to the moon’s south pole this time with a drone that can hop right into a jet-black crater that by no means sees the solar.
Intuitive Machines’ lander, named Athena, caught a raise with SpaceX from NASA’s Kennedy Area Middle. It’s taking a quick monitor to the moon — with a touchdown on March 6 — whereas hoping to keep away from the fate of its predecessor, which tipped over at landing.
By no means earlier than have so many spacecraft angled for the moon’s floor . Final month, U.S. and Japanese companies shared a rocket and individually launched landers towards Earth’s sidekick. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace ought to get there first this weekend after an enormous head begin.
The 2 U.S. landers are carrying tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}’ value of experiments for NASA because it prepares to return astronauts to the moon.
“It’s an incredible time. There’s a lot vitality,” NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox advised The Related Press a couple of hours forward of the launch.
This isn’t Intuitive Machines’ first lunar rodeo. Final 12 months, the Texas firm made the primary U.S. landing on the moon in additional than 50 years. However an instrument that gauges distance didn’t work and the lander got here down too laborious and broke a leg, tipping onto its facet.
Intuitive Machines mentioned it has fastened the difficulty and dozens of others. A sideways touchdown like final time would stop the drone and a pair of rovers from shifting out. NASA’s drill additionally wants an upright touchdown to pierce beneath the lunar floor to assemble soil samples for evaluation.
“Definitely, we will likely be higher this time than we have been final time. However you by no means know what might occur,” mentioned Trent Martin, senior vice chairman of house techniques.
It’s an awfully elite membership. Solely 5 nations have pulled off a lunar touchdown over the many years: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. The moon is affected by wreckage from many previous failures.
The 15-foot (4.7-meter) Athena will goal a touchdown 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the lunar south pole. Only a quarter-mile (400 meters) away is a completely shadowed crater — the final word vacation spot for the drone named Grace.
Named after the late pc programming pioneer Grace Hopper, the 3-foot (1-meter) drone will make three more and more larger and longer take a look at hops throughout the lunar floor utilizing hydrazine fueled-thrusters for flight and cameras and lasers for navigation.
If these excursions go effectively, it is going to hop into the close by pitch-black crater, an estimated 65 ft (20 meters) deep. Science devices from Hungary and Germany will take measurements on the backside whereas attempting to find frozen water.
It will likely be the primary up-close peek inside one of many many shadowed craters dotting each the north and south poles. Scientists suspect these craters are full of tons of ice. If that’s the case, this ice may very well be reworked by future explorers into water to drink, air to breathe and even rocket gasoline.
NASA is paying $62 million to Intuitive Machines to get its drill and different experiments to the moon. The corporate, in flip, bought house on the lander to others. It additionally opened up the Falcon rocket to ride-sharing.
Tagalongs included NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer satellite tv for pc, which is able to fly individually to the moon over the following a number of months earlier than getting into lunar orbit to map the distribution of water under. Additionally catching a experience was a personal spacecraft that can chase after an asteroid for a flyby, a precursor to asteroid mining.
___
The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives assist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.
Copyright 2025 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
