IM has been chosen by NASA to deliver the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) drill, combined with a mass spectrometer, to the Moon by December 2022.
Space products provider Intuitive Machines has selected SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket to launch its IM-2 lunar lander mission in the coming three years. The mission is one of five of NASA awarded Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions to the lunar surface and will launch no earlier than 2022.
IM President and CEO, Steve Altemus, said: Signing with SpaceX for our IM-2 Polar Mission, our second scheduled lunar landing, is more than affordable quality lunar transport. Launching Nova-C on a rocket with a proven record of reliability and outstanding value is an assurance to NASA and our commercial payload customers that IM is dedicated to sticking the landing in back-to-back Moon missions.
SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero, commented: Were honoured to launch Intuitive Machines important missions to the lunar surface.
IM has been chosen by NASA to deliver the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) drill, combined with a mass spectrometer, to the Moon by December 2022. PRIME-1 will drill into the lunar surface, harvest and bring ice to the Moons surface, and use a mass spectrometer to measure how much is lost to sublimation as it turns from solid into vapour in a vacuum. The data from the PRIME-1 mission will help scientists understand how VIPER can search for water at the Moons pole, and how much water may be available to use as NASA plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by the end of the decade.
