This week, a landmark event in space exploration will take place: the Athena Nova-C lunar lander of Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission will land on the Moon on March 6 at 12:32 PM (Kyiv time). Specifically, as part of this mission, a cellular network will appear on Earth's natural satellite. This is reported by Axios, writes UNN.
Details
According to the media, Intuitive Machines has partnered with Lunar Outpost to launch the first commercial lunar rover on the Moon with Finnish multinational technology company Nokia to create the first cellular network on Earth's only natural satellite.
This mission comes after the Blue Ghost lunar lander from Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace made the first successful commercial landing on the Moon on Sunday.
Intuitive Machines' second lunar mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services ("CLPS") initiative, which allows the agency to hire private space companies to deliver its lunar instruments.
According to a NASA statement, Athena "is planned to land on Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon's South Pole, as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and the Artemis campaign to establish a long-term presence on the Moon."
The space agency added that "NASA technology demonstrations and scientific research" will be conducted on board.
The rover will deploy Nokia's 4G/LTE antennas to establish communication on the Moon.
The Lunar Outpost MAPP aims to explore the uncharted territory of the Moon's South Pole, which the firm noted in its statement is "a region critical for future lunar infrastructure and sustainability."
Lunar Outpost added that the project will also "make the first sale of space resources to NASA" by collecting regolith, rocks, and dust from the lunar surface and "gather critical data to determine the future of lunar exploration."
Where to watch this event
The live broadcast of the mission's landing will be available on the NASA YouTube channel.
The broadcast will begin at 11:30 AM ET.