Intuitive Machine's Odysseus is on the moon in what was a suspenseful landing.   IM-1 Mission and Landing Coverage (with updates) is online and in the proverbial books.  A new NASA chapter is underway with commercial payload opportunities but IM-1 is linked very closely to the Artemis Program which hopes to send astronauts into orbit around the moon in Fall 2025.  Boots on the ground (regolith for moon) are next. 

Odysseus carried 6 instruments that are tasked with various roles for lunar analysis.  By the way, Odysseus will not "roll" in tradition travel mode but hop across the lunar service.  

"The six NASA payloads aboard Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission include:

• LN-1 (Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator)
  A small, CubeSat-sized flight hardware experiment that integrates navigation and communication functionality for autonomous navigation to support future surface and orbital operations. Principal investigator: Dr. Evan Anzalone, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

• LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array)
  A collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between an orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. LRA is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.
  Principal investigator: Dr. Xiaoli Sun, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

• NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing)
  A Lidar-based (Light Detection and Ranging) descent and landing sensor. This instrument operates on the same principles of radar but uses pulses from a laser emitted through three optical telescopes. NDL will measure vehicle velocity (speed and direction) and altitude (distance to surface) with high precision during descent to touchdown. Principal investigator: Dr. Farzin Amzajerdian, NASA’s Langley Research Center

• RFMG (Radio Frequency Mass Gauge)
  A rocket propellant gauge used to measure the amount of spacecraft propellant in a low-gravity space environment. Using sensor technology, RFMG will measure the amount, or mass, of cryogenic propellants in Nova-C’s tanks, providing data that can help predict propellant usage on future missions. Principal investigator: Dr. Greg Zimmerli, NASA’s Glenn Research Center

• ROLSES (Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath)
  Four antennas and a low-frequency radio receiver system designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface and determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with science investigations. It will also detect radio emissions from the Sun, Jupiter, and Earth, as well as dust impacting the surface of the Moon. Principal investigator: Dr. Nat Gopalswamy, NASA Goddard

• SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies)
  A suite of four cameras to capture stereo and still images of the dust plume created by the lander’s engine as it begins its descent to the lunar surface until after the engine shuts off. Principal investigator: Michelle Munk, NASA Langley

Intuitive Machines is one of 14 vendors eligible to carry NASA payloads to the Moon through the agency’s CLPS initiative, which began in 2018. CLPS is an innovative approach connecting NASA with commercial solutions from American companies to deliver scientific, exploration, and technology payloads to the Moon’s surface and into lunar orbit. Through CLPS, NASA aims to gain new insights into the lunar environment and expand the lunar economy to support future crewed missions under the Artemis campaign."

VIPER, which was successfully installed on Odysseus,  will be drilling into the regolith (lunar soil).

NASA now has Commercial Lunar [Payload] Services known as CLPS and there are already 14 companies that have contracts to explore, in some capacity, the moon.

"NASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and
technology to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

These companies, ranging in size, bid on delivering payloads for NASA. This includes everything from payload integration and operations, to launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. Under Artemis, commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon as it prepares for human missions. CLPS contracts are indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028."

The CLPS program offers an Overview, a Delivery Timeline (which is “dynamic” - subject to change as circumstances require), Additional Payload Information, and a CLPS homepage.

https://www.nasa.gov/reference/commercial-lunar-payload-services/

Intuitive Machines lands on moon in nail-biting descent of private Odysseus lander, a 1st for US since 1972

Toyota, JAXA, NASA’s Commercial Space Program and the Lunar Cruiser

Come Ride With Us – Intuitive Machines

Lunar Access Services Guide:

50 years after Humankind first landed on the Moon, Intuitive Machines is proud to offer Lunar Access Services to Earth’s nearest neighbor. Our Lunar Access Services provide a reliable and affordable means for governments to explore, companies to develop, and individuals to place an object in cislunar space or on the lunar surface. Our landers are based on a decade’s worth of engineering development, first as NASA’s Project M, then Project Morpheus. Intuitive Machines is staffed by an exceptional team with a deep understanding of spaceflight hardware and operations. By working with one of our Payload Integration Managers, you may focus on your mission objectives while our team works on the details of mission execution. We’ve made every effort to take the complexity and cost out of getting to the Moon. Our entire service, from our lander to rideshare Intuitive Machines’ comprehensive processing facility and ground support systems, are designed to make integrating your payload and providing Lunar Access Services as smooth and cost-effective as possible. Our services Include features such as a dedicated launch vehicle, deployment in cislunar space, short transit times to the lunar surface (typically six days), and a precision landing capability to ensure you land when and where you want. Welcome to the next step in space exploration - the Moon is now within your reach.

Interested in becoming a lunar explorer through commercial access?

On the home page the navigation bar is intriguing.

Lunar Access Services: Rideshare, Micro-Nova (this Nova-C lander hops across the lunar service), Users Guide

Lunar Data Services: LTN (Lunar Tracking Network), Data Relay, Mission Control (Intuitive Machine’s Mission Control, not NASA’s at JSC), and Users Guide.

Space Systems and Services: Space Infrastructure, Products and Services

There are many more links on the page, including careers.

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