Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Intuitive Machines IM-2 lunar lander within SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing.
Image credit: SpaceX

Intuitive Machines announced its IM-2 mission Nova-C class lunar lander, Athena, has completed all integration milestones.

The lunar lander is safely encapsulated within SpaceX’s payload fairing in preparation for launch. A multi-day launch window opens no earlier than February 26 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Firefly Blue Ghost now in lunar orbit.
Artwork credit: Firefly Aerospace/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Trio of lunar landers

“Humanity has never witnessed three lunar landers en route to the Moon at the same time, and Athena is ready to rise to the occasion,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus.

The two other landers are Firefly’s Blue Ghost now in lunar orbit, targeted for a March 2 landing, and Japan’s ispace lander expected to perform a Moon orbit insertion maneuver around early May.

ispace lunar lander/rover.
Image credit: ispace

Moon orbiter too

The Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission and Firefly’s Blue Ghost are part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, viewed as central to the space agency’s Artemis lunar exploration plans.

Along with the upcoming departure of IM-2, the Caltech-led Lunar Trailblazer, an ice-snooping Moon orbiter, is also being integrated in the SpaceX payload fairing as a ride share.

Science instruments onboard Lunar Trailblazer smallsat probe for lunar water.
Image credit: Jasper Miura, Lockheed Martin