Recently, Intuitive Machines won a contract to undertake a second robotic moon expedition.

The Houston-based business, which successfully completed the first-ever private lunar landing earlier this year, has been given a $116.9 million contract by NASA to transport six agency science instruments to the lunar south pole in 2027.

“The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the moon’s environment,” a statement from Chris Culbert, manager of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, regarding the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, read.

“For example, they’ll help answer key questions about where volatiles — such as water, ice, or gas — are found on the lunar surface and measure radiation in the South Pole region, which could advance our exploration efforts on the moon and help us with continued exploration of Mars.”

This past February, Intuitive Machines’ first lander, named Odysseus, a solar-powered vessel, made landfall close to the moon’s south pole. It completed its historic surface mission, which was scheduled to last seven Earth days, in operation.

The corporation is preparing for the launch of the IM-2 mission, which will take place later this year on board of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, on its second journey to Earth’s nearest neighbor. Additionally traveling toward the south pole is IM-2, which is carrying a NASA payload known as PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1), which is intended to search the region for water ice, which is believed to be abundant.

Next year, Intuitive Machines intends to launch the IM-3 lunar expedition. The company’s fourth lunar endeavor will be aided by the recently granted contract. CLPS, an effort to collect a lot of lunar data ahead of the anticipated arrival of astronauts later this decade via NASA’s Artemis program, was or will assist all of these missions.

NASA officials stated that the combined weight of the six payloads that would be carried on the 2027 mission is anticipated to be around 174 pounds (79 kilograms). The organization supplied the subsequent explanation of the tools:

• Yeast will be transported to the lunar surface via the Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications, which will then analyze how the yeast reacts to radiation and lunar gravity. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, is in charge of the payload.
• A set of instruments known as the Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization and Testing will be used to drill down to a depth of 3.3 feet (1 meter) below the lunar surface. Samples will be taken, and they will be processed in-situ in a miniature laboratory to determine whether any volatiles—such as water, ice, or gas—may be trapped at extremely low temperatures beneath the surface. The European Space Agency (ESA) is in charge of this suite.
• Eight retroreflectors make up the Laser Retroreflector Array, which will allow lasers to accurately measure the separation between a spaceship and the lander’s reflector. For many years to come, the array—a passive optical device—will serve as a permanent waypoint on the moon. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is in charge of overseeing the retroflector array.
• The Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers project will assess pollutants that landers inject into the regolith and explore how the lunar regolith reacts chemically to the physical, chemical, and thermal perturbations caused by landings. It will shed light on the potential effects of a spaceship landing on the makeup of samples taken in the vicinity. NASA Goddard is in charge of this payload.
• Under NASA Goddard’s management, the Fluxgate Magnetometer will characterize specific magnetic fields to enhance knowledge of particle and energy paths at the lunar surface.
• The purpose of the Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System is to map the surface temperature distribution of the moon, investigate its composition, and show that the instrument is feasible for use in future lunar resource utilization projects. The radiometer is a device that measures infrared wavelengths of light. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder is in charge of overseeing the imaging system.