A new lunar lander is set to launch to the moon's south pole this week

A robotic moon lander is about to launch on a SpaceX rocket. It's the second lunar mission for a private company that last year became the first to successfully land on the moon’s surface.

A robotic moon lander is set to launch into space this week, marking the second lunar mission for a company that made history a year ago by becoming the first private company to successfully land on the moon’s surface.

The spacecraft, known as Athena, was built by the Texas-based Intuitive Machines. It will carry a drill and set of instruments to study the chemical makeup of rocks and soil beneath the moon’s surface.

The Intuitive Machines lunar lander that will deliver NASA science and technology to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign is encapsulated in the fairing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.SpaceX / NASAThe mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which the space agency set up to support the development of moon landers by private-sector companies.

The targeted landing site is a plateau in the moon's south polar region, on a towering, flat-topped mountain called Mons Mouton.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to NASA because water ice is thought to be relatively abundant in the area’s permanently shadowed craters. That water could aid in the effort to eventually set up a permanent base on the moon. The Athena mission, in particular, will look for the presence of possible subsurface water, which could be a critical resource for future crewed missions to the moon.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-lander-launch-south-pole-intuitive-machines-rcna193482

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