Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 spacecraft is en-route to the Moon tonight, following a spectacular 1:05 a.m. EST Thursday launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from historic Pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The ambitious mission, which carries a group of scientific research instruments from NASA and academia, together with the first piece of sculptural artwork destined for another world, is flying under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract and, if successful, will become the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the surface of our closest celestial neighbor since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

IM-1 于美国东部时间周四凌晨 1 点 05 分在佛罗里达州午夜后的黑暗中发射。照片来源：NASA/Mike ChambersIntuitive Machines 的 IM-1 航天器今晚正在前往月球的途中，美国东部时间周四凌晨 1:05 借助 SpaceX Falcon 9 助推器从佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心 (KSC) 具有历史意义的 39A 发射台进行了一次壮观的发射。这项雄心勃勃的任务携带了一组来自美国宇航局和学术界的科学研究仪器，以及第一件运往另一个世界的雕塑艺术品，正在根据商业月球有效载荷服务（CLPS）合同进行飞行，如果成功，将成为这是自 1972 年 12 月阿波罗 17 号以来第一艘在我们最近的天体邻居表面软着陆的美国航天器。

Originally scheduled to launch at 12:57 a.m. EST Wednesday, SpaceX teams elected to postpone to Thursday’s backup opportunity, citing “off-nominal methane temperatures” as they prepared to load IM-1’s Nova-C lunar lander (named “Odysseus” in honor of the ancient hero of the Trojan War) with liquid methane propellant. That resulted in two other Falcon 9 missions on the East and West Coasts—the first carrying the U.S. Space Force’s highly classified USSF-124 payload from storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., the second a batch of 23 Starlink low-orbiting internet communications satellites from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.—leapfrogging IM-1, targeting their own launches on Wednesday afternoon.

原定于美国东部时间周三凌晨 12:57 发射的 SpaceX 团队选择推迟到周四的备份机会，理由是“甲烷温度超出标称”，因为他们准备装载 IM-1 的 Nova-C 月球着陆器（命名为“奥德修斯”以纪念特洛伊战争古代英雄的肖像）与液态甲烷推进剂。这导致猎鹰 9 号在东海岸和西海岸执行了另外两次任务，第一次是从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角太空部队站著名的太空发射综合体 (SLC)-40 运载美国太空军高度机密的 USSF-124 有效载荷，第二次是从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角太空部队站著名的太空发射综合体 (SLC)-40加利福尼亚州范登堡太空部队基地的 SLC-4E 发射了一批 23 颗星链低轨道互联网通信卫星，超越了 IM-1，目标是在周三下午自行发射。

The result could have produced a pair of launches a record-setting 120 minutes apart, creating a pair of lovers’ candles on both U.S. seaboards for Valentine’s Day, but it was not to be. USSF-124 took flight right on time at 5:30 p.m. EST and emplaced six payloads into low-Earth orbit: two Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the final four Tranche 0 Transport and Tracking Layer (TTL) satellites for the Space Development Agency (SDA).

结果本可以创造两次相隔 120 分钟的发射，在情人节那天在美国两个沿海地区创造出一对情人蜡烛，但事实并非如此。 USSF-124 于下午 5:30 准时起飞。 EST 并将六颗有效载荷部署到近地轨道：导弹防御局 (MDA) 的两颗高超音速和弹道跟踪空间传感器 (HBTSS) 卫星以及太空发展局的最后四颗 Tranche 0 传输和跟踪层 (TTL) 卫星 ( SDA）。

All six payloads “were safely delivered to their intended orbit”, noted Space Systems Command (SSC) in an update shortly after last night’s USSF-124 launch. “We’re proud to support both the MDA and the SDA with this co-manifested National Security Space Launch,” said Col. Jim Horne, senior materiel leader for SSC’s Launch Execution Delta. “We’ve worked side-by-side with our launch service provider and space vehicle partners to achieve the mission on-time and with precision.”

太空系统司令部 (SSC) 在昨晚 USSF-124 发射后不久的更新中指出，所有六个有效载荷“均已安全送达预定轨道”。 SSC 发射执行三角洲高级物资负责人 Jim Horne 上校表示：“我们很自豪能够通过这次联合的国家安全太空发射来支持 MDA 和 SDA。” “我们与发射服务提供商和航天器合作伙伴并肩工作，以按时、精确地完成任务。”

USSF-124 rose to orbit atop B1078, a Falcon 9 booster introduced to the fleet last March and making her seventh flight. “We’re reaping the benefits of this innovation with every launch,” said Dr. Walt Lauderdale, SSC’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) mission director. “As we move forward together with SpaceX, we’re methodically expanding reuse to leverage the benefits for the USSF and our space vehicle teammates.

USSF-124 搭乘 B1078（去年 3 月引入舰队的猎鹰 9 号助推器）升入轨道，并进行了第七次飞行。 “每次发射，我们都从这项创新中获益，”SSC 的太空保障 (AATS) 任务主任沃尔特·劳德代尔 (Walt Lauderdale) 博士说。 “当我们与 SpaceX 共同前进时，我们正在有条不紊地扩大重复利用，以便为 USSF 和我们的航天器队友带来好处。

“The mission team was able to add the Tranche 0 satellites to USSF-124 in under 30 days, less than six months from the then-scheduled launch date,” Dr. Lauderdale continued. “This unprecedented responsiveness is a needed capability for the Space Force to confront today’s threat environment.”

“任务团队能够在 30 天内将 Tranche 0 卫星添加到 USSF-124，距离当时预定的发射日期不到六个月，”劳德代尔博士继续说道。 “这种前所未有的响应能力是太空军应对当今威胁环境所需的能力。”

Attention then turned to Vandenberg, where the once-flown B1082 booster stood primed at SLC-4E with a payload of 22 Starlink internet communications satellites weighing in at 38,800 pounds (17,600 kilograms). A liftoff at the opening of this mission’s “launch window” at 4:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. EST) would have produced a new empirical record of exactly two hours between pairs of Falcon 9 missions, eclipsing SpaceX’s prior personal best of two hours and 54 minutes set late last December.

随后注意力转向范登堡，曾经飞过的 B1082 助推器在 SLC-4E 上进行了启动，有效载荷为 22 颗星链互联网通信卫星，重达 38,800 磅（17,600 公斤）。下午 4:30 在本次任务“发射窗口”开启时升空。太平洋标准时间（美国东部时间晚上 7:30）将创造新的经验记录，猎鹰 9 号任务之间的间隔恰好为两小时，超过了 SpaceX 去年 12 月底创下的 2 小时 54 分钟的个人最佳纪录。

Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Odysseus lander is readied for encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 payload fairing for launch. Photo Credit: SpaceX

However, shortly after the USSF-124 launch, SpaceX noted on its website that it was tracking a T-0 later in the evening, aiming for 5:34 p.m. PST (8:34 p.m. EST), only 20 minutes shy of the closure of Wednesday’s “window”. Ultimately, the mission was stood down and realigned for a four-hour backup window that opens at 1:34 p.m. PST and closes at 5:33 p.m. PST Thursday.

Intuitive Machines 的 IM-1 Odysseus 着陆器已准备好封装在 Falcon 9 有效载荷整流罩内以便发射。图片来源：SpaceX然而，在 USSF-124 发射后不久，SpaceX 在其网站上指出，它正在晚上晚些时候跟踪一架 T-0，目标是下午 5:34。太平洋标准时间（美国东部时间晚上 8:34），距离周三“窗口”关闭仅剩 20 分钟。最终，该任务被搁置，并重新安排了一个四小时的备份窗口，该窗口于下午 1:34 开启。 PST 并于下午 5:33 关闭太平洋标准时间周四。

As this apparent “game” of rocket musical chairs played out, attention returned to the Space Coast and Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission. As previously detailed by AmericaSpace, IM-1’s Nova-C Odysseus lander aims to touch down on 22 February near Malapert-A, a 15-mile-wide (24-kilometer) “satellite crater” of the three-times-bigger Malapert impact basin near the Moon’s South Pole at 80.4 degrees South lunar latitude.

随着这场明显的火箭音乐椅“游戏”的结束，人们的注意力又回到了太空海岸和直觉机器公司的 IM-1 任务上。正如 AmericaSpace 先前详细介绍的那样，IM-1 的 Nova-C Odysseus 着陆器计划于 2 月 22 日在 Malapert-A 附近着陆，Malapert-A 是一个 15 英里宽（24 公里）的“卫星陨石坑”，是马拉珀特撞击事件的三倍大位于月球南纬 80.4 度的月球南极附近的盆地。

It will bring to the lunar surface a dozen payloads from NASA, the International Lunar Observatory (ILO), the University of Colorado at Boulder, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Louisiana State University and others for the first U.S. soft-landing on our closest celestial neighbor since Apollo 17 in December 1972. IM-1’s chance at achieving that goal has been rendered newly possible following the disappointing loss of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, which suffered a catastrophic propellant leak shortly after launch in January and—though it attained lunar distance—was unable to make it to the surface.

它将把来自美国宇航局、国际月球观测站（ILO）、科罗拉多大学博尔德分校、安柏里德尔航空大学、路易斯安那州立大学和其他机构的十几个有效载荷带到月球表面，以实现美国在我们最近的天体上的首次软着陆自 1972 年 12 月阿波罗 17 号以来，IM-1 就成为了近邻。在 Astrobotic 的 Peregrine 着陆器令人失望地损失之后，IM-1 实现这一目标的机会再次成为可能。该着陆器在 1 月份发射后不久就遭遇了灾难性的推进剂泄漏，尽管它到达了月球距离，但无法到达表面。

IM-1’s suite of payloads includes six instruments from NASA: an array of laser retroreflectors and a sophisticated navigational lidar for precise ranging, a lighthouse-like navigation demonstrator, an investigation into how well future Moon-based radio observatories might function on the Moon, an experiment to explore the response of lunar regolith to rocket exhaust and an innovative propellant mass gauge.

IM-1 的有效载荷套件包括来自 NASA 的六种仪器：一系列激光后向反射器和用于精确测距的精密导航激光雷达、一个类似灯塔的导航演示器、对未来月球射电天文台在月球上运行情况的调查，一项探索月球风化层对火箭排气和创新推进剂质量计响应的实验。

Also aboard is Embry-Riddle University’s EagleCam CubeSat, which will be ejected shortly before IM-1 touches down, hopefully to acquire the first third-person views of a lunar landing. Louisiana State University has supplied its Tiger Eye-1 radiation monitoring instrument and the ILO-X experiment will evaluate precursor technology for a future planned astrophysics observatory for emplacement near the Moon’s South Pole.

搭载的还有安柏瑞德大学 (Embry-Riddle University) 的 EagleCam CubeSat，它将在 IM-1 着陆前不久弹出，有望获得登月的第一个第三人称视角。路易斯安那州立大学提供了 Tiger Eye-1 辐射监测仪器，ILO-X 实验将评估未来计划在月球南极附近建立天体物理观测站的前驱技术。

Rounding out the IM-1 payload suit is Moon Phases, a set of sculptures created by award-winning artist Jeff Koons. It stands to become the first artwork of its kind to reach the lunar surface since Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott left the “Fallen Astronauts” memorial in the dust of Hadley-Apennine in August 1971.

IM-1 有效载荷套装的最后一个部分是月相，这是由屡获殊荣的艺术家杰夫·昆斯 (Jeff Koons) 创作的一组雕塑。这将成为自 1971 年 8 月阿波罗 15 号指挥官戴夫·斯科特 (Dave Scott) 将“阵亡宇航员”纪念碑留在哈德利-亚平宁的尘埃以来，首个抵达月球表面的同类艺术品。

Weather conditions for last night’s IM-1 launch were highly favorable, with a 95-percent Probability of Go (PGo). Fueling of the Nova-C lander got underway at 2.5 hours prior to liftoff, leveraging the skills of the Starship team whose primary propellant is liquid methane. “This is a first for using methane on the Falcon 9,” SpaceX tweeted, “so the Falcon team was able to lean on the Starship team’s expertise in this area to prepare for this mission.”

昨晚 IM-1 发射的天气条件非常有利，成功概率 (PGo) 为 95%。 Nova-C 着陆器的燃料在升空前 2.5 小时开始，利用主要推进剂是液态甲烷的 Starship 团队的技能。 SpaceX 发推文称：“这是猎鹰 9 号首次使用甲烷，因此猎鹰团队能够依靠 Starship 团队在该领域的专业知识来为这次任务做好准备。”

It proved a complex process, as a new fueling infrastructure and procedures needed to be developed to load the liquid methane aboard IM-1 whilst fully encapsulated inside the Falcon 9’s bulbous payload fairing on the pad. Shortly after the completion of methane tanking, at T-35 minutes the SpaceX Launch Director approved the loading of liquid oxygen and a highly refined form of rocket-grade kerosene (known as “RP-1”) aboard the Falcon 9 itself.

事实证明这是一个复杂的过程，因为需要开发新的燃料基础设施和程序来将液态甲烷装载到 IM-1 上，同时完全封装在发射台上 Falcon 9 的球状有效载荷整流罩内。甲烷储罐完成后不久，在 T-35 分钟时，SpaceX 发射总监批准在猎鹰 9 号火箭上装载液氧和高度精炼的火箭级煤油（称为“RP-1”）。

Flying IM-1 on the first leg of its multi-day trek to the Moon was B1060, the fourth SpaceX vehicle to log an 18th launch. Powering smoothly out of the Space Coast at 1:05 a.m. EST, its nine Merlin 1D+ engines burned for 2.5 minutes, before the core stage separated and commenced a descent to alight on solid ground at Landing Zone (LZ)-1 at Cape Canaveral, the second such landing in 7.5 hours which set a new record for back-to-back touchdowns of single-stick Falcon 9s on solid ground, greatly surpassing the 41 hours which elapsed between two landings at the Cape and Vandenberg last November.

B1060 是 IM-1 多日登月旅程第一站的飞行器，也是 SpaceX 第 18 次发射的第四艘飞船。美国东部时间凌晨 1 点 05 分，其九台 Merlin 1D+ 发动机顺利驶离太空海岸，燃烧了 2.5 分钟，然后核心级分离并开始下降，降落在卡纳维拉尔角着陆区 (LZ)-1 的坚实地面上。这是 7.5 小时内的第二次着陆，创造了单杆猎鹰 9 号在固体地面上连续着陆的新纪录，大大超过了去年 11 月在海角和范登堡两次着陆之间的 41 小时。

With B1060 gone, the Falcon 9’s second stage conducted a pair of “burns” of its single Merlin 1D+ Vacuum engine: an initial six-minute pulse, followed by a 34-minute-long period of “coasting” and a second burn, lasting 53 seconds, ahead of deployment of IM-1 at 1:53 a.m. EST, some 48 minutes and 24 seconds into the mission. “Deployment of @Int_Machines IM-1 confirmed,” tweeted SpaceX as the six-legged lander drifted serenely away into the inky blackness to begin her week-long voyage to the Moon.

B1060 消失后，猎鹰 9 号的第二级对其单个 Merlin 1D+ 真空发动机进行了两次“燃烧”：最初的 6 分钟脉冲，随后是 34 分钟长的“滑行”期和第二次燃烧，持续时间比美国东部时间凌晨 1 点 53 分部署 IM-1 提前了 53 秒，即执行任务大约 48 分 24 秒。 “@Int_Machines IM-1 的部署已得到确认，”SpaceX 在推特上写道，此时六足着陆器静静地驶入漆黑的夜空，开始为期一周的月球航行。