Moon South Pole Mission Gets Multi-Millions From NASA
A public/private partnership between the United States government and a Texas-based company is set to embark on a historic trip to the moon’s south pole. Houston’s Intuitive Machines received a whopping $116.9 million from NASA, it was reported Friday, and will be sending six of the space agency’s science instruments to the lunar surface. The trip is scheduled for sometime in 2027.
Water-Rich Areas
The moon’s south pole has long been the subject of discussion about whether or not lunar water could contain microscopic light. The large craters that dot the area partially contain water ice.
Unlike most of the craters on the moon’s north pole, the southern region has spots inside the craters that do not ever get hit by sunlight, thus keeping the water ice frozen solid.
The Odysseus
The mission to the moon’s south pole will not be the first time that Intuitive Machines has sent a craft to Earth’s nearest neighbor. Earlier this year, the company successfully orchestrated a lunar landing—the first time a private company has ever done so.
The Odysseus craft touched down near the moon’s south pole in February and transmitted data back to the Earth for seven days.
Learning More About The Moon’s South Pole
The Intuitive Machine’s February mission marked the first time in more than 50 years that American hardware touched the moon’s surface. The last time any American craft landed on the moon was in 1972 when Apollo 17, the final Apollo mission, when astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt made their moonwalks.
Both NASA and representatives from Intuitive Machines are hopeful that the recently announced 2027 mission, as well as other missions scheduled for 2025, will lead to better understanding of the area and will aid NASA in how they will send astronauts there as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
The Equipment
The $100+ million dollar price tag attached to NASA’s financing of exploring the moon’s south pole includes equipment that together weighs an estimated 175 pounds. These instruments include a Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications, used to deliver yeast to the surface and study how it responds to radiation and the moon’s gravity.
An additional instrument, labeled as the Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization, and Testing, will be used to drill beneath the moon’s surface so that samples can be retrieved and analyzed.
Searching For Water
Other equipment that Intuitive Machines will be carrying for NASA include infrared imaging gear, a payload that will help measure chemical responses to various disturbances created by lunar landings, and optical instruments that will mark lunar landers’ locations on the surface.
Before the 2027 mission to the moon’s south pole, Intuitive Machines will be making follow-up trips to the company’s February 2024 trip. This includes the IM-2 mission, which will carry NASA’s PRIME-1 unit (Polar Resources Ice Mining Equipment), which will be used to search for water ice on the surface.
In 2025, Intuitive Machines will launch its IM-3 mission, where the company hopes they will be able to gather more data that will aid NASA‘s Artemis program.
