The lunar module, developed by privately held company Intuitive Machines, was to be launched into space on a SpaceX rocket on Wednesday, with the module expected to make a controlled landing in seven to eight days. Due to technical reasons, the launch was canceled 75 minutes before the scheduled time (7.57 Romanian time).

A new attempt will be made on February 15. The launch on the 14th was canceled because the methane temperature was not suitable.

The module is compared in size to an old British telephone box. At launch, with all fuel on board, the Nova-C module weighs 1,900 kg,

The site for selenization is a crater called Malapert A (after the 17th century Belgian astronomer Charles Malapert). This crater is located 280 km from the south pole of the Moon and was chosen because it is relatively flat, so the chances of a probe reaching it safely are higher.

The next attempt will be on February 15 at 8:05 a.m. Romanian time (1:05 ​​a.m. at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida). There is one more reserve date: February 16.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to successfully launch this module, called Nova-C, designed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, on its way to the moon.

The company received $118 million from NASA to design and build the lander and hopes to avoid the fate of Astrobotic, which failed to reach the moon with the Peregrine module, which had serious technical problems and burned up in the atmosphere.

The Intuitive Machines probe’s journey is expected to last seven to eight days, with a soft landing scheduled for February 22.

Controlled landings are complicated by the rocky terrain and the fact that parachutes cannot be used for deceleration because the Moon has no atmosphere. Maneuvers should occur automatically, with the help of engines.

These modules, sent by private companies, are part of a NASA program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). Through this program, smaller private companies are awarded contracts to test sending various payloads to the moon in preparation for the time when humans will be sent to the moon on complex missions.

The idea behind the program is to save money by awarding smaller contracts to more companies in order to conduct more tests in a shorter time.

Sources: Reuters, New York Times