An early morning rocket launch will send science instruments and technology demonstrations to the moon and send back data on the moon's surface and try out technology slated for Artemis astronauts,
Artemis is NASA's new lunar exploration program which will serve as a stepping stone to human missions to Mars. The Artemis's crew will include a number of notable firsts--the first person of color and the first woman to land on the moon.
An early morning launch at 1:05 a.m. on Thursday, sent the Nova-C lander into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. At about 50 minutes later the lander deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage according to NASA, which reports that the spacecraft is stable and receiving solar power.
Six NASA instruments will fly to the moon aboard the Nova-C lander, made by Intuitive through the agency's outsourcing program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
The NOVA-C lander is scheduled to land a week later on Feb. 22 in a flat area near the Malapert A crater in the south polar region of the Moon.
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