On February 15th, 2024, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the space probe “Intuitive Machines IM-1” as payload bound to the moon. After a week-long journey the “Nova-C Lander” is scheduled to touch down on lunar surface near its South Pole on February 22nd.

On board is the ILO-X instrument with two small astronomical telescopes developed by Canadensys Aerospace Corporation for International Lunar Observatory Association (iloa.org) ILOA Hawai’i. The two Imagers have a very wide field-of-view allowing to map the full band of our Milky Way home Galaxy visible above the Moon’s horizon in one shot. The whole mission serves as a pilot study to explore new technologies for future observatories to conduct professional research with “Astrophysics from the Moon”.

Pilot study for a future observatory on the moon

Bodo Ziegler from the Department of Astrophysics of the University of Vienna is so-called “Invited Observer” and will have full access to the data that will be collected in ILO-X’s active phase of two weeks. Three years ago (Sep 2020) he organised and hosted an international conference in Vienna to promote and discuss technological and scientific aspects of an Observatory on the Moon consisting of diverse instrumentation encompassing the full electromagnetic wavelength range from X-rays via optical to radio photons. Ziegler says “It is both exhilarating and relieving to see that this long lasting effort is finally becoming reality and opens up a new window for mankind to explore the wonders of the Universe outside our home planet Earth.”

More details on the mission, the technology, and the people behind this project: Astronomy on the Moon / ILOA