Intuitive Machines-2 Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast)

Watch Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Moon lander and NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IM-2 is scheduled to launch at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC Feb. 27).

The lander, named Athena, will carry NASA science and technology to the Moon’s surface. Athena will orbit the Moon for approximately three days before landing at Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole.

The NASA tech aboard the lander will demonstrate resource utilization on the Moon by measuring the possible presence of volatiles or gases from lunar soil and give future spacecraft a permanent reference point on the lunar surface.

Launching as a rideshare with the IM-2 delivery, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft also will begin its journey to lunar orbit, where it will map the distribution of the different forms of water on the Moon.

This is Intuitive Machines’ second launch to the Moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. To learn more about CLPS, visit https://go.nasa.gov/3RFR0A5.

Credit: NASA ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx8qzcomV5A