Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Mission Begins

   SpaceX successfully launched Intuitive Machine’s first robotic flight to the Moon on February 15 th , 2024. Liftoff occurred at 1:05 am EST. Under clear skies, the Falcon 9 rose then headed east. B1060 served as the first stage on its 18 th flight, powered by RP-1 and Liquid Oxygen.
Nova-C required LC-39/A as it is the only pad equipped to load methane / LOX, used to power the lander’s engine, close to flight. This procedure started two and a half hours before launch and was completed before the countdown timeline arrived at Falcon 9 fueling. An attempt the previous night was called off due to methane temperature issues.

     Stage separation occurred a bit past two minutes after launch. As the second stage ignited its lone engine moments later, the first performed a flip maneuver then a boost-back burn. Grid fins and cold gas thrusters aligned the descending stage. Six minutes after launch, three engines
ignited for the entry burn. This began to slow down the rocket as it lowered to Cape CSFS. Aligned with LZ-1, the landing burn allowed B1060 to gently touch down on the concrete pad as another booster, B1078, stood nearby after its return seven hours before. Moments later, a double
sonic boom spread across the local area.
   The second stage performed a second burn after a coast phase. Separation of Nova-C occurred 48 minutes after launch, sending the moon lander on a direct lunar trajectory. The spent stage performs adjustments to line it up with entry and burn-up over the Pacific Ocean.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, the Nova-C lander carries devices to study plume-surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a node for future autonomous navigation. The CLPS model for lunar payloads centers around
low-cost methods of Moon deliveries balanced with higher success risks. Nova-C established communications with ground controllers on schedule. The spacecraft will take approximately eight days to reach the moon, targeting a landing near the lunar south pole on February 22 nd .

By John Howard