America’s prestige is at stake as a private American lunar lander launches, half a century after the last Apollo lunar mission | World News | Top Vip News

• Scheduled to lift off shortly before 1 a.m. EST Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the Nova-C lander, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, takes aim at the Malapert A crater near the Moon’s south pole. . With forecasts promising a 95% chance of favorable weather, anticipation is high for this mission, called IM-1.
• The spacecraft will reach its destination, the Malapert A crater, located 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the Moon’s south pole, on February 22. NASA plans to establish a sustained presence in this region and extract ice for drinking water and rockets. fuel, aligning with the objectives of its ambitious Artemis program, aimed at exploring the Moon and Mars.
• To speed up its journey and minimize exposure to high-radiation areas around Earth, Odysseus is propelled by a combination of supercooled methane and oxygen.
• Intuitive Machines has received a $118 million contract from NASA to transport scientific equipment designed to assess and reduce environmental hazards for astronauts, with the goal of preparing for human landings on the Moon by 2026 at the earliest.
• The payload includes imaging devices to observe alterations in the lunar terrain caused by dust scattering from the spacecraft’s engines and an instrument to examine the electrostatic dust cloud that forms in lunar twilight due to solar radiation. .
• Additionally, Odysseus is equipped with a sophisticated landing system that uses laser pulses to identify potential landing hazards, such as small rocks and craters.
• To add to the uniqueness of the mission, it carries a vibrant array of cargo, including a digital compendium of human knowledge and 125 miniature lunar sculptures created by artist Jeff Koons.
• Once Odysseus lands, the mission’s instruments are expected to operate for about a week until the onset of lunar night at the south pole, at which point the spacecraft will cease operation.

Because it is important

• This launch not only represents a major milestone in America’s return to the lunar landscape, but also serves as a critical test of NASA’s strategy to leverage commercial partnerships to advance space exploration.
• This launch is particularly noteworthy as it follows the failed attempt by another private company, Astrobotic Technology, whose lunar lander encountered a leak in the propulsion system on the way to the moon after being placed in orbit on January 8. by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket. The failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander underscored the challenges and risks associated with private-sector-led lunar missions, a path that NASA has increasingly adopted to advance its goals of low-cost spaceflight.
• However, Intuitive Machines’ mission hopes to demonstrate that private companies can achieve what was previously reserved for national space agencies.
• This mission underscores a fundamental shift from government-led space exploration of the Apollo era to a new model that embraces commercial partnerships. In doing so, NASA seeks to more profitably innovate and stimulate economic activity in space, laying the foundation for the next chapters of human spaceflight.
• A successful landing would underscore the viability of private sector involvement in achieving ambitious spaceflight goals, including future manned missions to Mars.

Whats Next

• If Odysseus lands successfully, it will not only pave the way for future commercial lunar missions, but will also bolster NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon and beyond.
• Following this mission, Intuitive Machines has more missions planned, including an IM-2 mission that will land at the lunar south pole in 2024 and an IM-3 mission later that same year with several small rovers.

In perspective
The global race for lunar exploration is heating up. This mission comes on the heels of Japan’s successful placement of the lunar lander, becoming the fifth country to achieve a lunar landing, and India’s achievement as the fourth nation to land on the moon. The United States, the former Soviet Union and China remain the only other countries to have successfully completed soft landings on the Moon. The United States, through partnerships with companies such as Intuitive Machines and SpaceX, wants to maintain its leadership in space exploration while fostering a new era of innovation and discovery.

(With contributions from agencies)