NASA launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission on Feb.26 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The agency said Thursday the mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is carrying NASA instruments to be utilized for science and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines’ Nova C lunar lander is expected to reach the Moon’s surface, specifically in Mons Mouton located in the Moon’s South Pole, on March 6.
Paving the Way for Future Moon Missions
The new mission, part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign, aims to deliver payload needed to gather data about the Moon and help enable astronauts to explore it further on future missions.
The payload includes four vital NASA science and technology instruments. The Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1, or PRIME-1, will explore and analyze the Moon’s subsurface to locate possible lunar resources. The Laser Retroreflector Array is designed for precision laser ranging and will serve as a permanent location marker on the Moon. The Micro Nova Hopper, an autonomous drone named Grace, will survey the Moon’s surface, including the permanently shadowed regions, and transmit data back to the lander. The Nokia 4G/LTE Lunar Surface Communications System will demonstrate advanced cellular communications between the lander, a Lunar Outpost rover and the Micro Nova hopper to determine the possibility of future infrastructure on the Moon.
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, launched with the IM-2 mission, will determine the locations of different water forms on the lunar surface and analyze their changes over time. The results of the two-year water-mapping mission will be used to understand water cycles on airless bodies.
Janet Petro, NASA acting administrator, stated, “These science and technology demonstrations are more than payloads – they represent the foundation for future explorers who will live and work on the Moon.”
Related Articles
Gregory Barbaccia, federal chief information officer and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, has shared his insights on how the federal government should advance digital transformation. “I notice a lot of the government considers itself to be ‘digital,’ but in reality, we’ve only digitized, not transformed. Sure we went 0-1, but that should have just been the beginning,” Barbaccia wrote in a LinkedIn post. He noted the lack of automation and that workflows remain unchanged despite the replacement of paper ledgers with spreadsheets. “Files are shared over email instead of through real-time collaboration tools,” he added. Advancing Digital Transformation in Federal Government
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules that seek to eliminate unnecessary paperwork and address regulatory barriers to the ground-station-as-a-service, or GSaaS, business model as part of efforts to drive innovation in the U.S. space economy. FCC said Thursday the new rules establish a process for ground station operators to secure a baseline license without first identifying a satellite point of communication. A simple FCC notification will be required for each new point of communication. According to FCC, the change would eliminate nearly half of earth station modification applications. “Making the smallest change to a satellite system or earth
The General Services Administration has announced a OneGov agreement with Amazon Web Services that will provide up to $1 billion in direct incentive credits to federal civilian agencies. According to GSA, the direct incentive credits, aggregated across the agencies, will include savings on core AWS cloud services through AWS credits, infrastructure and application technologies modernization through AWS modernization credits, access to AWS training and certification through training credits and a streamlined engagement model with greater savings for direct contracts through direct partnerships. Advancing America’s AI Leadership The agreement is expected to accelerate large-scale IT transformation and boost AI innovation across