Omar de Frias’ Fratello Cigars is heading to the moon. Next month, the first commercial lunar landing is scheduled to take place. The commercially built lander will carry five NASA payloads and commercial cargo. That spacecraft, the Nova-C, will carry Fratello Cigars’ logo on it.
Intuitive Machines IM-1 is the company behind the mission. The company was founded by Steve Altemus, the former NASA Deputy Center Director for Johnson Space Center and founder of Intuitive Machines. Fratello Cigars owner and founder, Omar de Frias worked at NASA with Altemus, and thus the connection was born. Earlier this year, de Frias and Altemus collaborated to release the Fratello Lunar collection. This consists of three limited edition releases: Fratello Lunar Connecticut, Fratello Lunar Cameroon, and the Fratello Lunar Puro. Each release is packaged in a unit resembling the Nova-C lander. The Fratello Lunar Puro is a Dominican puro. The unit that the blend is housed in can also serve as a humidor.
“The Nova-C mission is set to be an historic and unforgettable journey to the Moon, and the Lunar cigars are a tribute to the spirit of exploration and innovation that fuels such extraordinary endeavors. The entire world eagerly awaits this exciting mission set to redefine the limits of what is possible.” – Said De Frias in a press release.
The actual Nova-C lander is 9.8 feet in length and has a diameter of 6 feet, 7 inches. Earlier this year, Omar de Frias was a guest on the Prime Time Show and talked about the project in detail. While the logo will be featured on the spacecraft, the cigars themselves will not be flying to the moon.
The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than November 15 from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The unit is scheduled to land on the Moon’s South Pole – an area that has not been landed on before.
