SPACEX launch on Wednesday sends innovative science to the moon and beyond

If the start of Wednesday of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center continues as planned, it will bring a load of science with it.

The rocket will carry not one, not two, but three important payloads, including a satellite set for the orbit of the moon, a privately controlled lunar lamp and a spacecraft that can pave the way to produce asteroids. In addition, an unidentified 16U satellite launched by Exolaunch, which will be parked in a geostationary earth orbit, is launched.

While the mission launch window opens on February 26, with the blast ideally appearing at 7:17 pm, these types of things can be delayed in a hurry if the conditions are not optimal. NASA will be live the launch of his WebsiteS Alternatively, you can watch it on Livestreams below, with the kind assistance of NASA’s space flight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0Clw7j6ic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm8wrjd3xva

After decades of ignoring, the moon has largely become the object of increased charm and two objects of the manifesto can provide data that contribute to the purpose of building bases on the crew on the moon’s surface. This includes Nova-C’s Lander, called Athena, built by intuitive machines for the NASA (CLPS) Lunar Load Commercial Load Service Program.

In February 2024, intuitive machines became the first private company to successfully land on the moon, although there was a slight sample. The company’s odyssey eventually got one of its feet caught, making it descend. Like Odyssey, Athens is ready to land in the area of ​​the South Pole of the Moon, a more special area called Mons Mouton. Lander is equipped with a workout and mass spectrometer that it will use – if everything goes well – to search and measure chemical components such as water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which could support the future moon study.

Riding on Lander will be a grace but Micro-new robot Designed to jump and get out of a permanently shaded crater. While inside the crater, Grace will look for water and take some pictures.

Also heads to the moon is on NASA Lunar trailblazerA small satellite designed to map the distribution of water through the moon’s surface. Ther Mission Aims to resolve the mystery of the moon’s water cycle, while answering questions about the shape, quantity and distribution of moon water.

Another spacecraft will increase the scale to the moon, but it will not stop there. Astroforge founded in 2022, seeks to become First company in my Asteroids for precious minerals. In 2023, she launched her first mission, a satellite, which had to evaporate and sort pre-loaded-charged-aste-mattrie. Mission did not do so wellAs the company struggles to communicate with the spacecraft and has problems with the deployment of its sunny massif. For this subsequent mission, starting Wednesday, the company is definitely more ambitious.

If successful, Astroforge’s Odin spacecraft will set a record as the farthest privately built ship in history. Odin’s flight plan calls for him to complete a five -day trip to the moon using his gravity to target an asteroid called 2022 OB5, a candidate for a future miner because of his possible metal composition.

It is unclear when Odin can reach the asteroid. “This goal will take a lot more time and therefore there is a far more likely success,” said Executive Director Matt Gialich in statementS

Gialich seemed to harden the expectations before the launch, saying that the company “takes exceptional risks from this mission, more risks than most companies would be ready to accept.”

“If this mission fails, the mistake lies with me,” he added. “I was involved in the intimate details of every compromise we did-and we did a lot.”

If all goes well, after a few decades you can just think of this launch as a turning point when you sit in your living room for a lunar base, admiring your watch made by platinum with an asteroid.