Josh Dinner is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016.
Jam packed issues filled with the latest cutting-edge research, technology and theories delivered in an entertaining and visually stunning way, aiming to educate and inspire readers of all agesTwo private lunar landers are set to launch this week aboard the same rocket, kicking off a busy year of missions to the moon.Falcon 9 rocket launching the missions begins early Wednesday morning , with liftoff scheduled for 1:11 a.m.
Blue Ghost's 60-day mission from Earth to the moon will end about five hours after night falls on the lander's location. The spacecraft will preserve the last of its battery power to capture an image of the lunar sunset before powering down.The Ghost Riders in the Sky mission will last 60 Earth days from launch to its expected loss of power following sunset on the lunar surface.
Intuitive Machines launched its first Nova-C lander, named Odysseus, in February 2024, which carried six NASA CLPS payloads in combination with another half dozen commercial payloads. On that mission, known as IM-1, Odysseus executed aIM-2 is expected to launch sometime in February, and is also headed to the moon's south polar region — this time, to a ridge near Shackleton Crater.
A third Nova-C lander will deliver another round of CLPS experiments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for the space agency, and is slated to launch sometime later in 2025 on the IM-3 mission.lunar lander launched last year but failed to reach the moon due to a fuel leak.
Josh Dinner is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships, from early Dragon and Cygnus cargo missions to the ongoing development and launches of crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more.
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