Commercial moon missions with NASA connections are all the rage right now. Firefly Aerospace stuck the lunar landing of its Blue Ghost mission on March 2. Now, Intuitive Machines will try for a similar success with its IM-2 mission Thursday. It should be a thrilling ride, and you can follow along live.
What is IM-2?
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander is nicknamed Athena. It carries a suite of science instruments and robots – including a hopping drone, multiple small rovers and a NASA drill designed to burrow three feet under the surface. The lander’s cargo includes both NASA and commercial payloads.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an effort by the space agency to use private companies to send landers and rovers to the moon. NASA’s grander goals through its Artemis moon program are to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish a long-term human presence there. IM-2 is in service of that vision.
“The lander is carrying NASA technology that will measure the potential presence of resources from lunar soil that could be extracted and used by future explorers to produce fuel or breathable oxygen,” the space agency said in an update on March 4.
When is the IM-2 moon landing?
