HOUSTON — It’s the next step in exploring the Moon.
Houston’s very own Intuitive Machines is hoping to be the first commercial company to bring NASA payloads to the lunar surface through their Nova-C Lunar Lander.
“A payload is an instrument or a scientific package that’s meant to go to the moon and collect scientific data so that we can understand the moon better," Intuitive Machines Vice President for Control Centers Dr. Troy LeBlanc said.
But LeBlanc said none of that can be done without first building the new Nova Control command center.
“I get chills when I walk in because I get to build the system out. I get to work the mission," LeBlanc said.
After more than two decades at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, LeBlanc has put all of that experience into building a mission control center that’s one-of-a-kind.
“I can definitely capitalize on the latest IT, the latest network systems so that we have a very clean, easy to protest system to use to fly our lander," LeBlanc said.
With a network of satellite dishes from around the world, mission controllers will have near-continuous communications with the spacecraft from launch to surface operations.
“We’re going to fly the lander to the moon. We will invite the payload community to come into the room with us in the surface part of the mission, and actually work with us right here in the room to work with their payloads," LeBlanc said.
The lander itself is still under construction. But come this November, Nova-C will be launched to the moon on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, where it will serve as a base for lunar exploration.
“There’s a variety of payloads that stay on the lander and collect a variety of data like maybe magnetic field data, or some payloads would like to deploy and go further away from the lander and do other science," LeBlanc said.