Half a century after the last Apollo lunar missions, two private companies are racing to make their mark on the Moon. Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Technology plans to lift off a lander Monday aboard a new rocket from United Launch Alliance. At the same time, Houston’s Intuitive Machines hopes to fly its Nova-C Moon lander in mid-February. They’re part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to jumpstart the commercial Moon economy as the agency shifts its focus to sending astronauts back there.
Intuitive Machines’ lander, dubbed Odysseus, is powered by a methalox engine, a design that uses liquid oxygen and methane instead of hydrogen and a third ingredient called nitrous oxide. Intuitive Machines chief executive Trent Martin says it’s the first methalox-fueled spacecraft to fly into deep space. He adds that the company has performed dozens of test firings in a vacuum environment to ensure they can handle the rigors of space.
Odysseus is carrying six non-NASA payloads for a variety of customers. They include a piece of artwork by Jeff Koons, a data archive from Galactic Legacy Labs, and a prototype for a lunar data center from Lonestar Data Holdings. The mission also includes a lunar rover with sensors for studying the surface of the Moon. Finally, a thermal reflective material developed by Columbia Sportwear will be placed on the lander based on the same materials used in its jackets to help astronauts stay warm.
The lander is scheduled for an overnight launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Officials have a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions, though SpaceX could delay the mission until Friday if the forecast worsens.
Launch forecasters with the 45th Space Force Weather Squadron say it’s likely to be a smooth countdown and launch.
The lander needs only about nine days to reach the Moon’s orbit, which is relatively close to Earth. From there, the mission will take about a week to reach the Moon’s surface.
This will be the first CLPS flight to go beyond the orbit of the Moon. The previous attempt, with Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, suffered a propulsion system failure soon after its Jan. 8 launch on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket making its debut flight. It was destroyed in reentry into Earth’s atmosphere 11 days later.
The failure was a reminder that even with the advent of new spacecraft designs and private companies filling the gaps, no nation has yet achieved a controlled landing on the Moon. But the success of India’s Moon rover this month has renewed interest in the mission. A series of successful landings is hoped to convince investors to support the efforts to revive the lunar economy and eventually return astronauts there. NASA’s lunar exploration budget has been slashed to nearly zero, so the agency is counting on the private sector to fill in the gaps and eventually send humans back to the Moon. A handful of companies have landed on the Moon in the past, but human operators have controlled none.
