SpaceX launched this historic moon lander from Intuitive Machines the 2nd mision for the NASA CLPS Commercial Lunar Payload Services program on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:05 AM from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A launch complex on February 15th 2024.

This was the first time the SpaceX Falcon 9 team has ever fueled a payload already encapsulated with methane and the Texas Starship team was a huge help with technical support on this mission. The previous launch attempt yesterday was scrubbed due to a non nominal methane temperature sensor.

First stage booster B-1060 made it's eightteenth trip to space and a safe landing back at Cape Canaveral LZ-1 for the 37th landing at this landing pad.

IM-1 will travel for seven days on its own and will attempt a soft landing (not done since over 50 years ago with the last Apollo mission) on February 22nd 2024. NASA has six instruments on this commercial privately built lander and recently changed the moon landing zone to the south pole for a better science investigation with the instruments on board IM-1.

NASA's first moon landing attempt with the CLPS program failed with a different company Astrobotics Peregrine moon lander which reached out to the orbital path of the moon but failed to even make a landing attempt due to a leaking fuel system and eventually burned up in the Earth's atmospere when it looped around for a return to our planet.

God Speed IM-1 for a soft landing on the moon!

Photos by Scott Schilke for spacenewsfl.com from Marco Island Florida