Athena will deliver the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) to demo new technology for finding lunar resources and extracting them.

Athena is carrying two critical instruments for the PRIME-1: the Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT), designed to drill up to one meter below the lunar surface to extract soil samples, and the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo), which will analyze these samples for water and other volatile compounds.

By assessing the presence of subsurface ice and volatiles, PRIME-1 aims to provide useful data for finding workable resources essential for permanent human exploration and settlement.

PRIME-1

PRIME-1 is a suite of two instruments designed to test technologies that will help scientists better understand lunar resources, paving the way for future Artemis missions. The TRIDENT drill will demonstrate the extraction of lunar soil, or regolith, from depths of up to three feet, while the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO) will analyze the sample to detect water and other compounds.

In addition to PRIME-1, the Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander will carry two commercial payloads developed with NASA investment. These payloads are part of NASA’s Tipping Point technology initiative, which supports innovations on the verge of becoming commercially viable for the aerospace industry. By fostering public-private partnerships, NASA helps reduce costs and risks in advancing new space technologies.

Intuitive Machines’ MicroNova

Intuitive Machines' MicroNova hopper robot will perform high-resolution surveying of the lunar surface along its flight path. The robot is designed to deploy from the lander, hop into a nearby crater, and collect scientific data before returning.

MicroNova will explore permanently shadowed regions (PSRs)—areas that have never been exposed to sunlight—offering a first look into environments that may contain water ice. The hopper will use sensors to scan for hydrogen, a key indicator of ice deposits, while also measuring temperatures in these extreme cold regions. Data collected by MicroNova will be transmitted via Nokia’s 4G LTE lunar network and relayed back to Earth through the Athena system.

Nokia Lunar Surface Communication System

Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communication System (LSCS) will demonstrate 4G LTE communications on the Moon, linking the IM Nova-C lander, Lunar Outpost’s Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover, and the MicroNova hopper.

This system, adapted from terrestrial cellular technology, will facilitate high-bandwidth data transfer between lunar assets, supporting high-definition video streaming, command and control, and telemetry data transmission. Intuitive Machines will use its direct-to-Earth data transmission service to send information from the LSCS back to mission operators on Earth.

This mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), with its science investigation led by Caltech, which operates JPL for NASA.

Information courtesy of NASA.

Lunar Trailblazer

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission will provide new insights into the lunar water cycle.

Selected under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in 2019, Lunar Trailblazer will map the distribution of water in its various forms across the Moon’s surface. This data will help scientists determine where water resources might be located and how they can be utilized for future human exploration.

Though water is known to exist on the Moon, its form, abundance, and movement remain uncertain. It may be locked inside rock and regolith, collected as surface ice in permanently shadowed craters, or temporarily settled as frost before cycling into the lunar exosphere.

Here are some things to know about Lunar Trailblazer from our friends at JPL:

Lunar Trailblazer will produce high-resolution maps of water on the lunar surface.

One of the biggest lunar discoveries in recent decades is that the Moon’s surface has quantities of water, but little about its nature is known. To investigate, Lunar Trailblazer will decipher where the water is, what form it is in, how much is there, and how it changes over time. The small satellite will produce the best-yet maps of water on the lunar surface. Observations gathered during the two-year prime mission will also contribute to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system.

The small satellite will use two state-of-the-art science instruments.

Key to achieving these goals are the spacecraft’s two science instruments: the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) infrared spectrometer and the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) infrared multispectral imager. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provided the HVM3 instrument, while LTM was built by the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Space Agency.

HVM3 will detect and map the spectral fingerprints, or wavelengths of reflected sunlight, of minerals and the different forms of water on the lunar surface. The LTM instrument will map the minerals and thermal properties of the same landscape. Together they will create a picture of the abundance, location, and form of water while also tracking how its distribution changes over time and temperature.

Lunar Trailblazer will take a long and winding road to the Moon.

Weighing only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measuring 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed, Lunar Trailblazer is about the size of a dishwasher and relies on a relatively small propulsion system. To make the spacecraft’s four-to-seven-month trip to the Moon (depending on the launch date) as efficient as possible, the mission’s design and navigation team has planned a looping trajectory that will use the gravity of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to guide Lunar Trailblazer to its final science orbit — a technique called low-energy transfer.

The spacecraft will peer into the darkest parts of the Moon’s South Pole.

Lunar Trailblazer’s science orbit positions it to peer into the craters at the Moon’s South Pole using the HVM3 instrument. What makes these craters so intriguing is that they harbor cold traps that may not have seen direct sunlight for billions of years, which means they’re a potential hideout for frozen water. The HVM3 spectrometer is designed to use faint reflected light from the walls of craters to see the floor of even permanently shadowed regions. If Lunar Trailblazer finds significant quantities of ice at the base of the craters, those locations could be pinpointed as a resource for future lunar explorers.

Lunar Trailblazer is a high-risk, low-cost mission.

Lunar Trailblazer was a 2019 selection of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), which provides opportunities for low-cost science spacecraft to ride-share with selected primary missions. To maintain a lower overall cost, SIMPLEx missions have a higher risk posture and lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to enable science missions that could not otherwise be done.

Future missions will benefit from Lunar Trailblazer’s data.

Mapping the Moon’s water supports future human and robotic lunar missions. With knowledge from Lunar Trailblazer of where water is located, astronauts could process lunar ice to create water for human use, breathable oxygen, or fuel. And they could conduct science by sampling the ice for later study to determine the water’s origins.

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.

Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket.

Stats

Total launches: 440

Total landings: 395

Total reflights: 368

The Falcon 9 has launched 54 humans into orbit since May 2020

Specs

Height: 70 m / 229.6 ft

Diameter: 3.7 m / 12 ft

Mass: 549,054 kg / 1,207,920 lb

Payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO): 22,800 kg / 50,265 lb

Payload to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO): 8,300 kg / 18,300 lb

Payload to Mars: 4,020 kg / 8,860 lb

On January 24, 2021, Falcon 9 launched the first ride-share mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit. It was delivering a record-setting 143 satellites to space. And while this was an important mission for SpaceX in itself, it was also the moment Falcon 9 overtook United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V for the total number of consecutive successful launches.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had become America’s workhorse rocket, launching 31 times in 2021. It has already beaten that record this year, launching almost an average of once a week. While most of the launches deliver Starlink satellites to orbit, the company is still launching the most commercial payloads to orbit, too.

Falcon 9 is a medium-lift launch vehicle, with the capability to launch over 22.8 metric tonnes to low earth orbit. Unlike any other rocket, its first stage lands back on Earth after separating from its second stage. In part, this allows SpaceX to offer the cheapest option for most customers with payloads that need to reach orbit.

Under its ride-share program, a kilogram can be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit for a mere 1.1 million dollars, far cheaper than all other currently operating small satellite launch vehicles.

The reusability and fast booster turnaround times have made Falcon 9 the preferred choice for private companies and government agencies. This has allowed SpaceX to capture a huge portion of the launch market.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster.

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is a historic launch site located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Originally constructed in the late 1960s, LC-39A was designed to support the Apollo program, including the groundbreaking Apollo 11 mission that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969. The pad also played a crucial role in launching Skylab missions and was instrumental during the Space Shuttle era, including the launch of the first Space Shuttle, Columbia, on STS-1 in 1981.

In 2014, SpaceX leased LC-39A from NASA and undertook extensive refurbishments to adapt the pad for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. These upgrades involved significant modifications to the pad's infrastructure to meet the requirements of SpaceX’s rockets. Since then, LC-39A has become a vital launch site for SpaceX, supporting a range of missions including crewed flights under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Under SpaceX's management, LC-39A has been the site of several landmark events. It hosted the first Falcon 9 launch from the pad on March 30, 2017, and was the launch site for the historic Falcon Heavy debut on February 6, 2018, which was the most powerful rocket in operation at that time. Additionally, LC-39A was the launch site for the first crewed flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on May 30, 2020, marking the first crewed spaceflight from U.S. soil since the end of the Shuttle program.

Today, LC-39A remains a critical asset for SpaceX, supporting both crewed and uncrewed missions. It continues to serve as a launch site for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and is expected to play a central role in future missions, including those aimed at lunar exploration and beyond. The pad's rich history and ongoing significance highlight its importance in the broader context of space exploration.

Photo courtesy of Erik Kuna for Supercluster

A Shortfall of Gravitas" (ASOG) is one of SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships, designed to recover Falcon 9 rocket boosters at sea. Operating primarily in the Atlantic Ocean from Port Canaveral, Florida, ASOG joined SpaceX’s fleet in 2021. It plays a crucial role in SpaceX's reusability program, enabling the recovery and refurbishment of rocket boosters for future missions.

The name "A Shortfall of Gravitas" is inspired by science fiction author Iain M. Banks' Culture series, known for its playful and philosophical ship names. ASOG is fully autonomous, capable of sailing to its designated landing area and maintaining position without the need for a tugboat. Equipped with advanced thrusters, it ensures precise positioning even in challenging weather conditions and features a large landing platform for booster recovery.

ASOG is essential for missions requiring high velocities or distant orbits where landing on solid ground is not feasible. By recovering boosters at sea, ASOG helps SpaceX reduce costs and enhance the sustainability of spaceflight.

Photo courtesy to Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster

Athena is targeting the “Mons Mouton” region of the Moon, with landing expected approximately eight days after launch. This site is approximately 100 miles from the Moon’s south pole, making it the closest landing attempt to the pole in lunar exploration history.

Mons Mouton is named after mathematician Melba Mouton, one of the first “human computers” who made significant contributions to spacecraft trajectory and geodynamics.

Athena will land in a lunar highland terrain and deploy rovers along with Intuitive Machines’ Micro Nova Hopper, named Grace, to explore the surrounding area. Grace is designed for multiple flights to collect science data using instruments from Hungary and Germany. One of these hops is planned into a small permanently shadowed crater about a quarter-mile from the landing site, marking the first direct exploration of a location where sunlight has never reached.

Courtesy of Intuitive Machines