(Image credit: SpaceX)
A smooth launch (and rocket landing)
The Falcon 9 lifted off from KSC’s Pad 39A today at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT). About 7.5 minutes later, the rocket’s first stage came back to Earth for a vertical touchdown at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to the NASA site.
It was the 18th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. That’s just one short of the company’s reuse record, which it set this past December.
down at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Feb. 15, 2024. (Image credit: NASA TV)
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, kept powering its way into the sky, eventually deploying Odysseus into a lunar transfer orbit roughly 48.5 minutes after launch as planned.
The 1,490-pound (675-kilogram) lander — which is about the size of a British telephone booth (or the TARDIS craft in “Dr. Who,” if you’re a sci-fi fan) — made its first contact with mission control a few minutes later.
Odysseus will soon start making its way toward lunar orbit, a journey that will take six days. Odysseus will then gear up for its historic landing attempt, which will take place at Malapert A, a small crater about 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the moon’s south pole.
NASA will watch the touchdown try with especially keen interest, for the space agency has a lot riding on Odysseus and its current mission, known as IM-1.
a spacecraft deploys from a rocket’s upper stage, with the curve of earth and the blackness of space in the background.
moon lander deploys from the second stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 15, 2024.
(Image credit: NASA TV)
Paving the way for Artemis astronaut moon missions
NASA booked a ride on IM-1 via its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which seeks to leverage the capabilities of private American robotic landers to get agency science gear down on the moon more cost-effectively.
These instruments are designed to collect data that will aid NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a crewed base near the moon’s south pole by the end of the 2020s. This region is thought to be rich in water ice, which could support Artemis astronauts on the surface and also be processed into rocket propellant, allowing crews to refuel spacecraft away from Earth.
Odysseus is carrying six NASA instruments on IM-1, which were put on board via a NASA contract valued at $118 million. It cost the agency an additional $11 million to develop and build the scientific hardware, NASA officials have said.
Here’s a brief rundown of those NASA science instruments:
- ROLSES (Radio Observations of the Lunar Surface Photoelectron Sheath) will characterize the electron plasma and radio environments near IM-1’s landing site;
- LRA (Laser Retro-Reflector Array), a tiny set of reflectors, will serve as a guidepost to help future landers make precision touchdowns on the moon;
- NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing) will use LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to gather super-precise data during Odysseus’ descent and landing;
- SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies) will study how Odysseus’ exhaust plume interacts with lunar dirt and rocks during landing, gathering data that could inform future Artemis lander designs;
- LN-1 (Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator), a small radio navigation beacon, will demonstrate autonomous spacecraft positioning tech, which could aid future lunar rovers and landers and eventually become part of a larger, GPS-like system on and around the moon;
- RFMG (Radio Frequency Mass Gauge statement) will use radio waves to measure how much fuel is left in Odysseus’ tank — something that’s tough to do in a microgravity environment.
Odysseus is also carrying six commercial payloads for a variety of customers, including Columbia Sportswear, which will test its “Omni-Heat Infinity” insulative material on IM-1.
Among the other private payloads is a set of sculptures by artist Jeff Koons and a “secure lunar repository,” which aims to help safeguard the entirety of human knowledge should something terrible happen here on Earth.
Also flying on IM-1 is EagleCam, which was built by students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. This camera system will deploy from Odysseus as it nears the lunar surface and attempt to snap photos of the lander’s touchdown.
You can learn more about all of the IM-1 payloads via Intuitive Machines’ press kit, which you can find here.