Intuitive Machines, a private aerospace company, is set to launch its lunar lander, the IM-1 Nova-C, next week. This spacecraft is equipped with a special set of cameras called Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which will track how the lander’s engine plume interacts with the lunar surface. The launch is scheduled to take place on Valentine’s Day from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The IM-1 Nova-C lander, named Odysseus, carries a total of 12 payloads, with half of them being commercial and the others from NASA. SCALPSS, developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center, is one of the payloads and consists of four cameras placed around the base of the lander. These cameras will collect imagery of the interaction between the moon’s surface and the lander’s engines.
During the lander’s descent onto the moon, SCALPSS 1.0 will be active, observing and documenting how the lunar surface is impacted and changed by Odysseus’s engines. The experiment utilizes stereo photogrammetry, where overlapping images from the cameras are used to create a 3D view of the lunar surface. This allows for detailed analysis of any surface changes that occur after the landing.
The findings from this study will be crucial for scientists and engineers involved in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon and establish a long-term lunar presence. Understanding the effects of landings on the lunar surface is essential for planning future missions and ensuring the safety of lunar landings. Potential concerns include erosion or damage to nearby equipment due to a lander’s plume.
Michelle Munk, principal investigator for SCALPSS and acting chief architect for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, highlighted the importance of protecting assets on the lunar surface. Placing landers and habitats near each other could result in sandblasting, which may require additional measures to safeguard nearby equipment. This consideration adds mass to the architecture of future missions, making it an integrated engineering problem.
Processing the images and verifying the data collected by SCALPSS will take the team at least a couple of months. They will generate 3D digital elevation maps, which will aid in planning future missions and ensuring the safety of lunar landings.
The IM-1 Nova-C lander is attempting to make history by becoming the first-ever private spacecraft to successfully land on the lunar surface. Previous attempts by Israeli firm SpaceIL’s Beresheet and Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto-R missions in 2019 and 2023 were unsuccessful. Additionally, Astrobotics’s Peregrine mission suffered a fuel leak earlier this year, resulting in its loss. Odysseus, like Peregrine, is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS), which is a part of the broader Artemis program.
Another CLPS mission, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, is scheduled to carry an upgraded version of SCALPSS, known as SCALPSS 1.1, later this year. This version will feature two additional cameras, further enhancing the capabilities of studying engine plume interaction with the lunar surface.
As the IM-1 Nova-C lander prepares for its historic launch, the inclusion of SCALPSS and its advanced cameras marks a significant step forward in understanding how lunar landings impact the moon’s surface. The data collected will not only contribute to the success of future missions but also ensure the safety and preservation of valuable assets on the lunar landscape.
