Moon Mining Ground Truth by Intuitive Machines

The Nova-C robotic lunar lander under development by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines will carry a variety of payloads to the lunar surface in 2021 and 2022, including payloads to investigate the viabilty of lunar resource utlisation (i.e. moon mining). 

The payloads will be provided by both commercial customers and NASA. The NASA payloads will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to lay the groundwork to send astronauts back to the Moon later this decade. 

The first lunar landing mission by Intuitive Machines designated IM-1 is scheduled for launch as soon as 11 October 2021 on a SpaceX Falcon 9. This lander will attempt to land in the Ocean of Storms. 

The company's second mission, IM-2 is set to launch as early as 2022, and will carry a payload called Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 (PRIME-1). This will drill for water ice under the lunar surface in a polar area of the Moon [SpaceNews]. 

PRIME-1 Drill (Image Credit: NASA)

The measurements obtained by the drill will be a key early test of theories for the presence and formation of lunar water, in the form of ice mixed in with the regolith. If the existance of lunar water in sufficient quanities can be confirmed, it will be of great benefit to further lunar exploration efforts and could support human bases.

IM-1 Lunar Lander (Image Credit: Intuitive Machines)

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