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Intuitive Machines , the speculation - back inauguration that go public last year , will send a moon lander to the lunar south pole in 2027 as part of a $ 116.9 million contract bridge awarded by NASA on Thursday .
This is NASA ’s tenth award under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services ( CLPS ) platform ; of these , four have gone to Intuitive Machines . The society will turn in six NASA payloads to the synodic month as part of the deal , though there will be additional warhead capacity on the lander for commercial customers .
The lunar south pole is a region of major scientific involvement , due , in part , to the relative abundance of body of water ice that has been detect there . But the part is notoriously challenging to explore , with many role permanently in shadow , with super low temperature and rough terrain . Only a individual bird of passage has ever briefly explored the region : Indian Space Research Organisation ’s Pragyan rover that was deploy from the country ’s Chandrayaan-3 lander in August 2023 .
One of the six NASA payloads to hitch a ride on this mission is a rooms of instrument , contrive by the European Space Agency , that will remove subsurface samples of lunar regolith and analyze their composition . The samples will help appraise “ potential resource on the moonshine and to prepare engineering science that may be used to distill these imagination in the future,”the ESA saidin a verbal description of the freight .
Other loading include a radiometer that will explore the composition of the moon ’s surface , an instrument that will evaluate how the spacecraft landing might affect the composition of the regolith and a grouping of retroreflectors that will help accurately watch the location of the lander . ( Retroreflectors were also on Intuitive Machines ’ first lunar lander . )
“ The instruments on this freshly awarded trajectory will aid us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our sympathy of the Moon ’s environment , ” Chris Culbert , manager of the CLPS initiative , said in a statement . “ For example , they ’ll help suffice primal questions about where volatiles — such as water , ice-skating rink or gas pedal — are discover on the lunar surface and measure radiation in the South Pole region , which could advance our exploration campaign on the Moon and help us with continued geographic expedition of Mars . ”
Before Intuitive Machines launches this lander , it has two lunar missions in the pipeline that it must complete first : a second lunar missionthat is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year and a mission to the Reiner Gamma area of the moon in 2025 .
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Intuitive Machines launched its first lunar lander mission in February . While the lander didsuccessfully land on the lunar airfoil , it came in slenderly too quickly and tip over nearly onto its side . While the landing place ultimatelyended the mission too soon , due to the positioning of the lander ’s solar panel in relation to the sun , the company sound out the military mission still proved out the lander ’s magnetic core components and organisation .
