Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Artwork depicts the Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C IM-2 lander carrying NASA’s Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1.
Image credit: Intuitive Machines

While NASA has cancelled its VIPER lunar rover, the private group, Intuitive Machines, has finalized a landing site for its “sold-out” IM-2 lunar prospecting mission.

Still on track for a launch later this year, the IM-2 mission is designed to prospect for water ice and other volatiles on the Moon’s south pole, an effort backed by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

In an Intuitive Machines statement, IM-2’s desired landing site supports the high probability of ice stability within one meter of the lunar surface.

A spectacular, specially produced near-ground level oblique view of the “Connecting Ridge” between Shackleton and Henson craters. The lunar south pole (SP) occurs on the rim of Shackleton crater. The ridge along the rim of the South Pole-Aitken impact basin is a potential Artemis landing site (001) and another (004) occurs on the rim of Shackleton crater. (Image credit: ETHZ\LPI\Valentin T. Bickel and David A. Kring)

Favorable terrain

Working with NASA, Intuitive Machines selected “favorable terrain” – a roughly 650 feet in diameter (200 meters) elliptical region on the Shackleton Connecting Ridge at the Moon’s south pole.

That landscape also provides a good Earth communications position, along with solar angles for power generation.

To align with the landing site’s solar power conditions, the mission must be timed between November 2024 and January 2025.

“IM-2 is currently planned for late 2024,” and the selection finalized a previously announced pending task order with NASA, according to the Intuitive Machines statement.

The lunar rover “YAOKI” – a Japanese commercial payload.
Image credit: DAMON Co., Ltd./Inside Outer Space screengrab

YAOKI mini-rover

“A sold-out commercial and civil government mission early in our commercialization roadmap validates our approach to supporting an economy in deep space,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus.

“Our expertise in landing site selection is world-class,” Altemus added, “and we believe the ability to identify landing areas with valuable resources will be essential to the future of the lunar economy.”

One payload onboard IM-2 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hands.

The lunar rover “YAOKI” has been developed by DAMON Co., Ltd., a company led by robot creator Shinichiro Nakajima. The rover is set to join the IM-2 lunar lander’s other experiments as the company’s first Japanese commercial payload.

Image credit: Intuitive Machines