ILO-X precursor dual imagers landed on the Moon on 22 February 2024 aboard the Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C Lander. The mission received (to be confirmed) 341 images in total, 14 of which were full jpgs, 2 HDR and 322 thumbnails. Also stored on the flash memory within the ILO-X instruments are digital assets (40 files, 2 of which were transmitted back to Earth from the Moon surface).
Mission Updates:
28 March 2024 -- ILOA is pleased to announce its ILO-X wide field-of-view instrument, which landed on the Moon 22 February 2024 aboard Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lander, now has a new name "Lunar Codex". The new name comes from the project The Lunar Codex which is an archive of 35,000+ artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers launched in 6 time capsules ... [Read More]
ILO-X WFoV image taken about 13 seconds before lunar touchdown 22 February 2024; Derived Reprojection Panorama (Equidistant) created by Canadensys Aerospace for (c) ILOA Hawai'i
Taken 22 February 2024 at ~23:00:33 UTC with ILO-X wide field-of-view instrument
Gif created from ILO-X WFoV images comprised of mostly thumbnails taken during Deorbit, Descent and Landing (DDL) on 22 February prior to Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander touchdown
ILOA Receives First Moon Surface and Lunar Descent Images from ILO-X Aboard Intuitive Machines' IM-1 Nova-C Lander Odysseus
This high-res image was taken from the surface of the Moon by ILOA's ILO-X wide field-of-view imager at ~00:30 UTC on 25 February 2024. It shows portions of the lunar landscape, regolith / dust, the Sun, and the IM-1 Odysseus lunar lander.
29 February 2024, Kamuela HI (29 February 2024 UTC) --- International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawai'i) is not just over the Moon, but ON THE MOON, having had its precursor ILO-X instruments land and operate from the lunar surface aboard the Intuitive Machines IM-1 Mission Nova-C class lunar lander named Odysseus. The ILO-X payload includes a miniaturized dual-camera wide and narrow field-of-view lunar imaging suite.
"We are very appreciative of Intuitive Machines and our ILO-X payload developer / contractor Canadensys Aerospace Corporation for their professionalism and perseverance during this historic lunar mission," states ILOA Director Steve Durst.
The ILO-X wide field-of-view (WFoV) image was taken at ~00:30 UTC on 25 February 2024 and shows the Sun high in the field-of-view, the lunar surface on the left side, as well as the Intuitive Machines Odysseus lunar lander. This image from the Moon reveals the ILO-X wide field-of-view's orientation on the Moon, which regrettably does not include the Milky Way Galaxy. Nonetheless, ILOA is delighted to have received its first Moon surface picture.
This image from ILOA's ILO-X wide field-of-view imager was taken on 22 February 2024 about 4.2 minutes prior to touchdown which occurred 23:24 UTC. It shows craters in the Moon South Pole region as well as the IM-1 Odysseus lunar lander.
One of the images (shown above) from the ILO-X WFoV during Deorbit, Descent and Landing (DDL) shows the lunar surface, craters and dramatic shadows of the Moon South Pole region, and part of the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C spacecraft in high-resolution.
To date, ILOA has received 9 high-resolution and 105 thumbnail images from the ILO-X imagers which will be shared as soon as the data has been processed internally.
There may also be a last-minute opportunity for instrument contractors at Canadensys to try and image the lunar surface with the ILO-X WFoV before the instruments are powered down.
The ILOA international team of 28 Directors will celebrate the successes achieved from this mission so far, including raising awareness for our future ILO-1 mission to Malapert Mountain.
ILOA Hawai'i is working toward the long-term goal of permanent astronomy / observations and communications from the Moon with the ILO-1 lunar observatory and to share images of the Milky Way Galaxy Stars with the 8 Billion people of Earth.
© Copyright 29 February 2024, International Lunar Observatory Association, all rights reserved.
ILOA RECEIVES IMAGES & DATA FROM ILO-X PAYLOAD ON THE MOON SURFACE, CELEBRATES MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
27 February 2024 --- International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawai'i) has received images from its precursor ILO-X instruments aboard the Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus lunar lander.
The images received from the wide field-of-view imager include portions of the lunar landscape, regolith / dust, the Sun, and the Odysseus lunar lander - which continues to help confirm the lander's orientation on the Moon, and contains other valuable information. Images to be released on Thursday 29 February 2024 (Leap Day).
We are very appreciative of Intuitive Machines and our ILO-X payload developer / contractor Canadensys Aerospace for their professionalism and perseverance during this first lunar mission. The ILO-X images are being processed internally within the aforementioned teams.
Also carried aboard the ILO-X instruments is a Moon Memorial & Contributors file which is a tribute to the people who have helped support the lunar mission, 37 images and artworks (which we plan to elaborate on in a future media release), and the first Space Calendar Lunar Broadcast edition from Space Age Publishing Company. The later was successfully carried to, landed on and now received from the Moon.
ILOA Hawai'i is working toward the long-term goal of permanent astronomy / observations and communications from the Moon with our future ILO-1 lunar observatory on Malapert Summit and to share images of the Milky Way Galaxy Stars with the 8 Billion people of Earth.
ILO-X Instruments Are on the Moon Surface, Teams Hope for Milky Way Galaxy and Lunar Images
23 February 2024 --- International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawai'i) congratulates Intuitive Machines for the incredible accomplishment of an independent enterprise successfully soft landing its IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus lunar lander carrying NASA and commercial payloads in the Moon South Pole region on 22 February 2024 at 17:24 CST.
ILOA is honored to be part of the first USA landing on the Moon in the 21st Century, and to have had its first precursor instruments land near the Moon South Pole. ILOA is working toward the long-term goal of permanent astronomy from the Moon with our future ILO-1 lunar observatory and to share images of the Milky Way Galaxy Stars with the 8 Billion people of Earth.
With today's official press conference, Intuitive Machines and NASA announced the presumed off-nominal landing orientation of Odysseus which has our two ILO-X precursor imagers mounted near the top of the lander.
During the transit period and while in lunar orbit, our instruments went through checkout periods in which they successfully took low-resolution thumbnail images and reported telemetry, temperature and other data.
ILOA's first low-resolution thumbnail (above) is from the ILO-X wide field-of-view, fish-eye imager showing deep space, the Sun and part of the Nova-C spacecraft landing legs.
Our international dedicated ILOA team, including the ILO-X payload developer Canadensys Aerospace, are working hard and remain hopeful to receive other images from the Moon surface!
Prior to landing, we believe one or both of our instruments may have also taken an image of the Moon, which we hope to be able to receive in the coming days.
We remain cautiously optimistic that ILO-X and our fellow passenger payloads aboard Intuitive Machines' lander are able to gather as much science and data as possible during this time, Ad Astra Per Aspera!
ILO-X Payload Summary
The ILO-X is a precursor to the ILOA flagship lunar south pole observatory, ILO-1.
The ILO-X instruments are manifested on NASA's 2022/23 CLPS lander mission which is being led by commercial lander provider Intuitive Machines, where it will perform a number of observation and technology validation experiments ahead of the larger ILO-1 observation and communications mission which is planned to follow 1-2 years later.
ILO-X's primary objectives are to (i) capture the first image of the Milky Way Galaxy Center (MWGC) from the surface of the Moon in 21st Century, both for societal interest as well as validating key elements of ILO-1's optics and electronics, (ii) capture additional images of the celestial sphere throughout the lunar day, and (iii) capture imagery of the lunar surface around the lander, including the terrain and surrounding landscape out to the horizon as well as activities of surface assets that are anticipated to be deployed from the lander.
A key driver for the ILO-X payload was miniaturization, ensuring that lunar and celestial observation capabilities could still be delivered from the earliest commercial lunar landers, despite tight size, mass and power constraints. The payload, which leverages several years of technology advancement by ILOA, Canadensys and the Canadian Space Agency, is scheduled for flight with the Intuitive Machines' M1 (IM1) lander in mid-February 2024.
The ILO-X instrument features two main imagers:
Wide FOV Imager:
- Circular FOV with full angle of 186°
- Pixel resolution of ~0.06° per pixel
- Bayer colour detector, circular image diameter 3000 pixels
- Near-horizontal orientation to capture both lunar surface activity and lunar sky at certain times
Narrow FOV Imager:
- Rectangular FOV, 39° x 51°
- Pixel resolution of 0.013° per pixel
- Bayer colour detector, 3000 pixels x 4000 pixels
- Approx. 60° elevation relative to local south horizon, fixed azimuth angle over course of mission. Fixed azimuth set prior to launch to optimize for MWGC image capture from a given landing location in a given month.
- Baffle for stray light mitigation - both from sun and lunar surface
Astronomy from the Moon: Planned Observations for ILO-X Lunar Astronomy Imagers in 2024.
22 February 2024: Intuitive Machines via X (formerly Twitter):
"After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data. Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface."
14 February 2024: SpaceX via X (formerly Twitter):
"Deployment of @Int_Machines IM-1 confirmed"
5 February 2024: Intuitive Machines Lunar Lander Encapsulated and Scheduled for Launch:
"multi-day launch window that opens no earlier than 12:57 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 14th"
30 January 2024: International Lunar Observatory Association Release: Astronomy from the Moon: Planned Observations for ILO-X Lunar Astronomy Imagers in 2024.
28 January 2024: RocketLaunch.Live has IM-1 Nova-C lander set to launch NET 14 February at 01:45 EST.
17 January 2024: Mark Robinson details IM-1 landing region with LROC data for the NET 11 February launch:
19 December 2023: Intuitive Machines: "...IM-1 lunar mission is now targeted for a multi-day launch window that opens no earlier than mid-February 2024."
27 October 2023: Intuitive Machines: "...in coordination with SpaceX, liftoff of the IM-1 lunar mission is now targeted for a multi-day launch window which opens January 12, 2024."
4 October 2023: International Lunar Observatory Association News Release:
- ILOA Hawai'i precursor ILO-X payload is fully integrated aboard Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander, which is prepared to ship from Houston to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida for launch.
- Flagship mission ILO-1, and backup ILO-2, are being developed for observation and communication from the Moon.
- Precursor ILO-X mission consists of 2 small instruments which will be utilized for Milky Way Galaxy imaging, Invited Astronomy Observations, 21st Century Hawai'i Astronomy, Lunar Broadcasting, and it carries 37 images, artwork and a Moon Memorial / Contributors file.
- The narrower field-of-view imager is named Ka 'Imi (The Search), and ILOA is pleased to announce the opening of the naming rights campaign auction for the wide field-of-view imager.
15 August 2023: ArsTechnica / Eric Berger: "Intuitive Machines-1 mission has a launch slot reserved from Nov. 15 through Nov. 20."
17 July 2023: Canadensys Aerospace Corp. has provided mission patches for our ILO-X precursor, now set to launch mid-November 2023 via Spacex Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral FL.
8 February 2023: SpaceNews: "... company spokesperson Josh Marshall told SpaceNews that the new landing site is at Malapert A."
7 February 2023: Intuitive Machines LLC: "Intuitive Machines will shift the landing site of its first mission to the lunar South Pole Region ... The landing date is currently scheduled for late June of 2023."
10 November 2022: Intuitive Machines LLC, Business Wire: "Steve Altemus, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Intuitive Machines. "Demonstrating our commercial capability with Artemis I will build upon our excellence in executing our Lunar Data Services business line and provide valuable repetition before our first planned mission to the Moon in March 2023."
20 July 2022 via Jeff Foust / Twitter:
June 2022 via Intuitive Machines, IM-1 Mission Commercial Payloads 14-Page PDF Summary, hosted on IM Website:
6 June 2022 via Spaceflight Now, Stephen Clark: Small NASA Lunar Probe to Hitch Ride on Commercial Moon Mission. 
16 May 2022 via Intuitive Machines twitter:
24 March 2022: ILO-X Hawai'i Naming Contest Opens:
11 October 2021 via Intuitive Machines twitter:
28 April 2021 via SpaceNews:
Credit: Intuitive Machines
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ILOA-IM Announce Agreement for 2021 Lunar Landing and Milky Way Galaxy Center Imaging
Kamuela, Hawai'i, 12 November 2020 - The International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawaii) has contracted Intuitive Machines (IM) of Houston TX to fly its ILO-X payload on the IM-1 Nova-C lander mission set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2021 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to Vallis Schröteri, also known as Schroter's Valley (24.53° N, 50.49° W).
ILO-X is a precursor to the ILOA flagship Moon South Pole Observatory ILO-1. The ~0.6kg ILO-X instrument, being built for ILOA by Toronto-based Canadensys Aerospace, includes a dual-camera miniaturized lunar imaging suite that aims to capture some of the first images of the Milky Way Galaxy Center from the surface of the Moon, as well as performing other celestial / Earth / local lunar environment observations and exploration technology validations - including functionality and survivability in the lunar environment.
"The Milky Way Galaxy first view from the Moon with ILO-X could provide a new 21st Century perspective for the human future, like the Earth-Rise first view from the Moon did for Global understandings last century" says ILOA Director Steve Durst - who, along with 27 Board of Directors and global network through its Galaxy Forum program, has been looking forward to achieving this image since the ILOA 2007 founding.
Larger ILO-1 and ILO-2 observations and communications missions are under development, for which follow on is being planned to launch 2022-23.
In addition to Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission in 2021, NASA recently selected Intuitive Machines to deliver the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) drill, combined with a mass spectrometer, to the Moon's South Pole by December 2022. Both awarded missions are in support of Artemis.
"Our IM-1 mission is reimagining what's possible for the commercial space industry," said Intuitive Machines Vice President of Aerospace Services, Trent Martin. "We believe ILOA's 13-year journey to capture the first ever image of the Milky Way Galaxy Center from the lunar surface is remarkable, and we can't wait to stick the landing in 2021."
As plans progress for the first woman and next man on the Moon to touchdown near the Moon South Pole in the 2024-2026 time frame, potential collaboration / upgrades for the ILO-1 mission and other instruments are being considered.
For more information about the mission, please contact: info@iloa.org or +1-808-885-3474
About ILOA: The ILOA is an interglobal enterprise incorporated in the Aloha 50th State of Hawaii as a 501(c)(3) non-profit to help realize the multifunctional ILO -- to advance human knowledge of the Cosmos through observation from our Moon, and to participate in lunar base build-out. The ILOA also since 2008 has co-sponsored with its Space Age Publishing Company affiliate an international series of Galaxy Forums and Lunar Commercial Communications Workshops.
About IM: Intuitive Machines is a premier provider and supplier of space products and services that enable sustained robotic and human exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond. We drive markets with competitive world-class offerings synonymous with innovation, high quality, and precision. Whether leveraging state-of-the-art engineering tools and practices or integrating research and advanced technologies, our solutions are insightful and have a positive impact on the world.
About CSYS: Canadensys Aerospace is a space systems and services company with a focus on high reliability missions from Earth orbit out to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Canadensys supports both government and commercial space exploration missions with systems specifically tailored for extended performance and longevity in the lunar environment, from long-range mobility and enhanced situational awareness to lunar night survival and shadowed region operations. Canadensys also provides robust high-performance spacecraft systems to a number of international commercial initiatives.