Space

NASA, Commercial Partners Send Moon Lander to South Pole

Onboard is the first test of a cellular network on the moon by Nokia and the first rocket-powered lunar drone called a ‘hopper.’
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NASA, Commercial Partners Send Moon Lander to South Pole
Intuitive Mission’s Athena lunar lander sets off for the moon on Feb. 26, 2025. Courtesy of NASA/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
T.J. Muscaro
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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) latest mission to the moon is on its way, returning a blazing light to the Florida sky shortly after sunset on Feb. 26.

Intuitive Machines’s Athena lunar lander lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7:16 p.m ET. The lunar lander made a clean separation from the Falcon rocket at approximately 8:01 p.m. ET. It will take about a week to reach the moon for a scheduled landing near the moon’s south pole on March 6.

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T.J. Muscaro
T.J. Muscaro
Author
T.J. Muscaro is an award-winning reporter and NASA Correspondent for The Epoch Times, covering the Artemis program, Space Force, and other public and private ambitions within the growing space industry. Based in Tampa, Florida, he also covers stories of extreme weather and disaster relief, as well as various matters of national and international politics.