NewzVille Desk
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander (IM-2) soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. The lander is set to land on the Moon on 06 March 2025.
The NASA science and technology demonstrations aboard the lander will, once on the Moon, gather data to support future human missions. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, which launched as a rideshare with the IM-2 mission, also began its journey to lunar orbit, where it will map the distribution of the different forms of water on the Moon.
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.
The mission began with a launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 26 February at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC).
This is the fourth mission to launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program. It’s an endeavor to bring science and technology to the surface of the Moon at a lower cost to the space agency.