Another week, another mission to the moon

Intuitive Machines-1 with their Nova-C lander is scheduled to launch just before 6am AEDT.

This mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) - companies that are being paid by NASA to ship equipment and experiments to the moon.

This model is similar to what NASA has been doing to send astronauts and experiments into low Earth orbit and to the International Space Station.

By paying groups like SpaceX, the funding helps the development of private companies and the efficiency of these companies means it happens at a cheaper rate, and usually faster, and NASA does not have to do or manage everything.

By applying this model to the moon, the aim is to have more activity, quicker and cheaper, than what has happened in the past.

Intuitive Machines will be carrying a variety of experiments and equipment - including the first 4G or mesh mobile network to test future communication systems on the moon.

They are planning to send two more landers this year with other experiments, such as NASA's PRIME - designed to extract ice from the moon's regolith (dirt).

However, this is not the only company apart of this program.

Based in Japan, ispace attempted their first landing in April of last year, but were unsuccessful during their attempt.

They have more moon missions planned, though, including one for NASA in 2026.

Astrobotic Technology with their Peregrine Mission launched in mid-January.

It was carrying a variety of experiments to the moon, including a small rover built by Carnegie Mellon University and small rovers built by Mexico.

It was originally planned to land on the moon on February 23.

However, after it was launched, it suffered an issue with the propulsion system and leaked propellant, meaning it couldn't land.

Based on its orbit, it was able to go out around the moon, but did not have the fuel to slow down and perform a controlled landing on the moon, and instead, came back to Earth.

The remaining propellant on board has been used to steer it deliberately and crash into the Earth's atmosphere, breaking apart of the ocean outside Tuvalu.

NASA and private companies are not the only ones though.

The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA)'s SLIM landed on the moon a few weeks ago, marking Japan as the fifth country to successfully land on the moon.

One of SLIM's goals was to test precision automated landing on the moon to an accuracy of 100 metres - much better than the 20 kilometres with Apollo 11.

SLIM landed within 55 metres of its location - a precision never before achieved.

It also was able to land and adapt to the surface, all part of the mission and design of the spacecraft.

SLIM appeared to land with only one main thruster in action (instead of two), and landed essentially on its nose, but still worked.

Many more are planned this year by NASA, companies, and others.

China has two missions - one in March and one in May, with the Chang'e 6 mission planned to go to the far-side of the moon, collect samples, and return them to Earth.