The Moon is about to receive yet visitor from Earth this week – and you can watch the whole lunar landing right here. The mission by NASA and private space exploration company Intuitive Machines is set to make a touchdown on the Moon at 12:32 pm EST (5:32 pm UTC)on Thursday, March 6.
Live landing coverage of the mission, called the Intuitive Machines 2 (IM-2) landing, will start no earlier than 11:30 am EST, approximately an hour before touchdown, and NASA will be sharing live blog updates of the landing from 11 am EST onwards.
The IM-2 mission was launched on February 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All being well, the mission will use Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander, Athena, to analyze lunar soil for valuable resources and detect the presence of water ice on the Moon’s surface.
Athena entered the Moon’s orbit on March 3 and is currently making the final adjustments to nail this week’s landing. The spacecraft is set to touch down near the ridge of Shackleton Crater, named after Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, approximately 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the lunar south pole. In this region, the Sun stays low on the horizon but never sets, resembling Earth’s midnight Sun.
Along with the Athena lander, the mission will deploy a Micro Nova Hopper, named Grace, to explore the local area.
On March 14, it’s even anticipated that Athena will be able to observe an eclipse from the Moon. During this event, the Sun, Earth, and Moon align, with Earth positioned between the two. Observers on Earth will witness a lunar eclipse as the Moon fades into darkness. Meanwhile, on the lunar surface, Athena will see the Sun drift across the horizon from right to left, vanishing behind Earth before emerging once more. Just like a solar eclipse on Earth, Athena will briefly be enveloped in darkness.
Another cool feature of the IM-2 mission is the 4G network that will be used by multiple vehicles to communicate and send data back to Earth. Known as the Nokia Lunar Surface Communication System, or “LSCS”, it will be the first cellular network to be deployed on the Moon.
“We intend to prove that cellular technologies can provide the reliable, high-capacity and efficient connectivity needed for future crewed and uncrewed missions to the Moon and eventually Mars,” Thierry E. Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia, said in a statement. “Cellular technology has irrevocably transformed the way we communicate on Earth. There’s no reason it can’t do the same for communications on other worlds.”
With cutting-edge technology, groundbreaking exploration, and even a lunar eclipse on the horizon, the IM-2 mission marks another milestone in private space travel — so don’t miss it!
Humans are making a big presence in the Solar System at the moment. Earlier this week, Blue Ghost, a spacecraft funded by NASA and operated by private company Firefly Aerospace, landed on the Moon. Further afield, aerospace firm AstroForge recently launched its new spacecraft, Odin, with the aim of becoming the first private company to reach deep space.
