Space News Florida

"SpaceX B-1060-18 NASA Intuitive Machines IM-1 Moon Lander LC-39A"

"Photo Credit Intuitive Machines"

SpaceX NASA & Intuitive Machines scrubbed this early morning launch attempt today Wednesday the 14th due to off nominal methane temperatures before attempting to fuel the payload. This is a first for SpaceX fueling payloads just before launch out on the launch pad so wet dress rehearsals were accomplished previously for fueling the moon lander. Next attempt is Thursday the 15th at 1:05 AM. Friday morning is also another back up opportunity.

On board is Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova C moon lander Odysseus carrying six NASA instruments on this lander. It was expected to make a soft landing attempt on the moon originally on February 22 in polar region of the moon but this date will change until it is launched. Odysseus will travel one week free flying on its own before reaching lunar orbit.

If this mission is successful it will mark the first time a United States moon lander accomplished a soft moon landing in over 50 years since the last Apollo mission. This mission for Intuitive Machines and NASA is part of their CLPS program Commercial Lunar Payload Services.

Side note due to Valentines I will not be covering the two double header SpaceX launch attempts (family first rockets second). However hopefully at least one remote camera set two days ago for the IM-1 mission may capture some images and not be covered in dew while I'm away from the launch.

Pad photos by Scott Schilke SpaceNewsFl.com & lunar lander images by Intuitive Machines & NASA.

Project information

Category Space News
Client SpaceX & NASA
Project date 14 February, 2024
Project URL http://spacenewsfl.com
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SpaceX & NASA's Intuitive Machines IM-1 Moon Lander Ready For Liftoff at 12:57 AM Wed. February 14th 2024 From LC-39A KSC B-1060-18 First Stage Booster With An RTLS

Project information