Spaceport America plays role in latest moon mission

Technology tested in New Mexico is on its way to the moon.

The mission lunar lander will be the first U.S.-launched space vessel to land on the moon in more than 50 years.

Spaceport America was used to test equipment on Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander scheduled for launch late Tuesday night.

The IM-1 mission lunar lander, Nova-C, was scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just before 11 p.m. Mountain time Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, according to a Spaceport America news release. Nova-C is scheduled to land on the moon on Feb. 22 if all goes as planned, according to Charlie Hurley, public information officer for Spaceport America.

Space X, founded by Elon Musk, designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. Intuitive Machines is a space company focused on space exploration by providing products to support robotic and human exploration.

If the mission is successful, the commercial lunar lander named Odysseus would be the first U.S. spacecraft to complete a soft landing on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The Apollo 17 mission’s crew consisted of native New Mexican and former U.S. Sen. Harrison Schmitt, as well as Eugene A. Ceman and Ronald E. Evans.

The Intuitive Machines’ 14-foot lander will use laser range finder technology tested twice in 2021 and once in 2022 at Spaceport America southeast of Truth or Consequences, Hurley said. The technology will assist in the landing.

Each of the 2021 test flights were conducted aboard a fixed-wing aircraft that took off from the Las Cruces International Airport before entering the restricted airspace above Spaceport America’s physical site, according to the news release. The 2021 flights flew descending flight profiles to simulate the initial stages of a lunar landing.

“Our airspace above the Spaceport is part of the White Sands Missile Range airspace complex and we have an (agreement) with them so it allows us to do some things that are harder to do in other places,” said Scott McLaughlin, executive director at Spaceport America.

In 2022, Intuitive Machines completed its final laser range finder test flight at Spaceport America, according to the news release. A Robinson R44 helicopter was chosen for the test, which again simulated the descent of a lunar landing.

The laser range finder will work in conjunction with Nova C’s Terrain Reflective Navigation cameras, according to the news release. The laser range finder is positioned on the lander’s downward side and will distribute information to Nova C’s navigation algorithms that provide control and guidance throughout the descent .

Flying under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload initiative, which is geared toward encouraging private companies to deliver scientific instrumentation and supplies to the moon, the mission is slated to deliver payloads ranging from NASA scientific instruments as well as a number of sculptures to Malapert A, according to the news release. The crater is less than 200 miles from the moon’s south pole and its nearby Malapert Massif region. It is one of 13 regions under consideration for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

“We are very happy that we can support testing of such a wide range of space technologies at Spaceport America,” McLaughlin said. “We wish Intuitive Machines the best of luck and will be cheering for their success and our nation’s progress in going back to the moon.”