Intuitive Machine发射到月球

At 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander, named Odysseus, lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ first lunar mission will carry NASA science to the Moon to study plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.

Odysseus is scheduled to land on the Moon’s South Pole region near the lunar feature known as Malapert A on Thursday, Feb. 22. This relatively flat and safe region is within the otherwise heavily cratered southern highlands on the side of the Moon visible from Earth. Landing near Malapert A will also help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from a location where Earth is low on the lunar horizon.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

美国东部时间2024年2月15日（星期四）凌晨1点05分，Intuitive Machine的Nova-C月球着陆器奥德修斯乘坐SpaceX猎鹰9号火箭从NASA位于佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心升空。作为NASA商业月球有效载荷服务（CLPS）计划和阿尔忒弥斯计划的一部分，太空天气、月球表面相互作用、射电天文学、精确着陆技术，以及未来自主导航技术的通信和导航节点。

奥德修斯计划于2月22日星期四在月球南极马拉珀特A附近着陆。这个相对平坦和安全的地区位于从地球上可以看到的月球侧面布满陨石坑的南部高地。在马拉珀特A附近着陆也将有助于任务规划者了解如何从地球位于月球地平线较低的位置进行通信并将数据发送回地球。

图片来源: NASA/Kim Shiflett