NASA has launched a project to land humans on the Moon for the first time in 54 years
- NASA is prepping for first human visit to the Moon in 54 years
- It launched its IM-2 mission this week
- Second lunar lander, Athena, set off from Kennedy Space Center
Published on Feb 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Mar 03, 2025 at 9:17 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
NASA is prepping for its first human visit to the moon in 54 years.
It teamed up with space exploration company, Intuitive Machines to launch its IM-2 mission on Wednesday.
The second lunar lander, Athena was aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from Kennedy Space Center.
It’s all part of a wider project to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, and technological advancement, and to ‘learn how to live and work on another world’.
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Why NASA sent Athena to the Moon
Athena is scheduled to land near the Moon’s south pole on March 6, 2025.
The IM-2 mission involves searching for lunar water ice using a robotic hopper named ‘Grace’ and an ice-mining drill.
Groundbreaking tech will allow a commercial rover named ‘Mapp’ developed by Lunar Outpost will deploy a temperature-monitoring vehicle.
What’s more, another part of the mission sees Nokia testing a lunar cellular network on the Moon.
The short-lived mission of the Odysseus Nova-C lunar lander in February 2024 was commented on by Intuitive Machines’ senior vice president of space systems, Trent Martin via Space.com.
“We ended up on our side, and we weren’t able to use our large, high-gain antenna to send data back to the Earth,” he said.
“This time, hopefully, we land in a more precise position.”
The Artemis III mission
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services CLPS program and Artemis III, Athena joins Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and Japan’s ispace RESILIENCE, making this a historic moment.
It’s the first time that three landers have been en route to the Moon simultaneously.
IM-2 is aiming for a more precise landing than IM-1’s Odysseus lander, which lost power due to an imperfect landing position.
The mission will strengthen NASA’s commercial space efforts and contribute to its Artemis III program.
Its aim to return humans to the Moon – and its new timezone – is planned no earlier than mid-2027 due to issues with the heat shield and life support systems on its Orion craft.
London-based Amelia cut her journalistic teeth covering all things lifestyle, wellness, and luxury in the UK capital. Fast-forward a decade and the senior content writer and editor has put pen to paper for glossy magazines, busy newsrooms, and coveted brands. When her OOO is on from writing about cars and heading up on-site SEO you can find her spending quality time with her young family, in the gym, or exploring the city she loves.
