Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C successfully launches to the moon

suite of NASA (Washington, DC, USA) Scientific instruments and technology demonstrations are on the way to the moon. intuitive machine‘ (Houston, Texas, USA) Nova-C The lunar lander was launched by SpaceX on February 15th at 1:05 a.m. ET. falcon 9 A rocket launched at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Through this flight to the moon, Nova-C Enabled by the all-composite unibody Type V pressure vessel, it will provide insight into the lunar environment and testing techniques for future landers and Artemis astronauts.

At approximately 1:53 a.m., the lander deployed from Falcon 9’s second stage. The team confirmed it has been in communication with the company’s Mission Operations Center in Houston. The spacecraft is stable and powered by solar power.

These deliveries are part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign. This campaign includes new solar system science to better understand planetary processes and evolution, explore evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term human exploration (Learn more) (about how composite materials are positively impacting this program).

En route to the moon, NASA instruments will measure the amount of cryogenic engine fuel used, collect data on plume-surface interactions during descent to the lunar surface, and test precision landing techniques.

Once on the Moon, NASA instruments will focus on studying space weather interactions with the lunar surface and radio astronomy.of Nova-C The lander will also carry a retroreflector that will contribute to a network of position markers on the lunar surface for communication and navigation for future autonomous navigation technologies.

The science NASA carried on board the lander includes:

• Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator: A small-scale experiment, about the size of a CubeSat, will demonstrate autonomous navigation for use by future landers, ground infrastructure, and astronauts, and will demonstrate relative navigation to other spacecraft, ground stations, and moving rovers. Check your position on the moon digitally.
• laser retroreflector array: A collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, the measurement of the distance from an orbiting or landing spacecraft to the lander’s reflector. This array is a passive optical instrument that will serve as a permanent position marker on the Moon for decades to come.
• Navigation Doppler lidar for accurate speed and distance detection: Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) guidance system for descent and landing. The instrument works on the same principle as radar, but uses pulses from a laser that are emitted through three optical telescopes. Accurately measure speed, direction, and altitude during descent and touchdown.
• high frequency mass meter: Technology demonstration to measure the amount of propellant in a spacecraft tank in a low-gravity space environment. Using sensor technology, the gauge measures the amount of cryogenic propellant in the body. Nova-Canalyzes the fuel and oxidizer tanks of the aircraft, providing data to help predict fuel usage on future missions.
• Radio observation of the lunar photoelectron sheath: The instrument will observe the Moon’s surface environment at radio frequencies to determine how natural and anthropogenic activities near the surface interact and potentially interfere with the science being conducted there. .
• Stereo camera for studying the lunar plume surface: A suite of four small cameras to capture images showing how the lunar surface changes due to interaction with the spacecraft’s engine plume during and after descent.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C class lunar module is called Odysseusis scheduled to land on February 22, 2024, in the lunar south pole region near a lunar feature known as Malapart A. This relatively flat and safe region is located within the cratered southern highlands on the side of the moon that is visible from Earth. Landing near Malapart A will also help mission planners understand how Earth can communicate and send data back to Earth from its location low on the moon’s horizon.

NASA scientists spent nearly seven days collecting valuable scientific data about Earth’s closest neighbor, paving the way for the first woman and first person of color to explore the moon under the Artemis mission. become.