image source, Reuters
Caption,
The Vulcan rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending the Peregrine spacecraft towards the Moon.
About the item
- Author, Jonathan Amos
- Role, BBC science correspondent
- January 8, 2024, 3.27pm GMT
Updated 55 minutes
The mission of the US space module, which took off on Monday from Cape Canaveral (Florida) with the aim of carrying out a controlled landing on the surface of the Moon, is in danger.
The Peregrine robotic lunar module, which would be the first American spacecraft to complete a “soft” landing on the Moon in 51 years and which is the first from a private company, suffered serious technical problems after liftoff.
The company Astrobotic, hired by NASA to land Peregrine on the Moon, announced a few hours after launch in a statement that the ship had suffered “an anomaly that prevented it from stably pointing its solar panels at the Sun” due to a propulsion failure. system.
The Pittsburgh-based company said in a later statement that the faulty propulsion system was leaking “critical” amounts of fuel.
The problem could ruin the planned landing and now Astrobotic is talking about changing its mission objectives. In other words, you’re thinking about what you can save compared to your original goals.
image copyrightAstrobotic
Caption,
The Peregrine module, which weighs 1.2 tons, is part of a group of projects calling for the United States to land on the moon in 2024.
The beginning of the problems
The Peregrine’s problems arose shortly after communications with ground controllers were established, following its release from the Vulcan rocket.
Engineers noticed that the spacecraft struggled to maintain a stable fixation with the Sun, which meant its solar cells did not receive a constant supply of sunlight to recharge the onboard battery.
Power was reported to be reaching operationally low levels.
Astrobotic engineers eventually identified the root cause of the problem as a failure in the propulsion system.
And although they were able to successfully reorient the spacecraft and charge the battery, it was evident, the company said, that Peregrine was leaking fuel.
“The team is working to try to stabilize this leak, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can acquire,” it said in a statement.
“We are currently evaluating what alternative mission profiles might be feasible at this time.”
The five scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft will study the lunar surface environment in anticipation of manned missions planned for this decade.
Peregrine is part of a wave of spacecraft that will attempt to land on the Moon’s surface in 2024, likely up to eight different designs, including those from Japan and China.
image copyrightNASA
Caption,
The United States had not conducted a controlled moon landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Astrobotic’s mission began aboard the new Vulcan rocket, lifting off from its platform in Florida at 02:18 local time (07:18 GMT). Fifty minutes later, after a perfect flight, the ship separated and was pushed in the direction of the Moon.
It would take him a few weeks to get into position to make the attempted moon landing.
However, with the problems reported in the last few hours, the mission seems to be compromised.
Descent was scheduled for Feb. 23 onto a smooth lava valley on the Moon’s near side known as Sinus Viscositatis, or “Sticky Bay,” in reference to the type of volcanic material that may have accumulated in the surrounding hills.
Since the last Apollo mission in 1972, the United States had not attempted a controlled landing on the lunar surface, although it had sent several probes in the meantime that crashed on purpose for one reason or another.
Private companies with NASA as a “customer”
NASA has put operations from the lunar surface back on the agenda because it wants to resume missions with astronauts very soon and will use its commercial partners to send scientific instruments, equipment and supplies in general, in a measure that will reduce times in the long term. forward costs costs, according to the agency.
Astrobotic is the first of three U.S. companies that will ship a lander under this new agreement. The other two companies, Intuitive Machines and Firefly, will do so in the coming months.
The three companies have NASA as a “customer,” but the space agency is “not responsible” for their missions. The companies themselves designed the spacecraft and will be in charge of mission control.
image copyrightNASA
Caption,
Peregrine’s objective was to land on flat volcanic terrain south of the Gruithuisen Hills of the Moon.
Mexican robots on board
NASA’s cargo aboard Peregrine was to focus on preparations for a subsequent human presence on the lunar surface.
The Pergrine Ion Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), for example, will try to better understand how water moves on the Moon. Water is considered an important resource for future astronauts, both for drinking and as a basis for the production of rocket fuel.
The PITMS main sensor was built in the UK by the Open University (OU) and space research and development center RAL-Space.
OU’s Dr. Simeon Barber led the development. “Water is very important for astronauts both for drinking and for cleaning. “It really is the key molecule to unlock the new way of doing space exploration in the future,” he told BBC News.
Since NASA is listed simply as the mission’s customer, Astrobotic is free to sell the cargo space to others. Among the most notable additional items on board are several small rovers, including a group of tiny two-wheeled robots from Mexico.
There are also cultural objects on board, such as photos, drawings, plaques and audio recordings. But, controversially, there is also a package of cremated human remains. Two companies have small “memorial” capsules in Peregrine. One contains the DNA of famous British science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke.
Caption,
A group of scientists led by Dr Simeon Barber of the Open University developed the sensor within one of NASA’s instruments.
This fact provoked the ire of the Navajo nation, one of the indigenous peoples of North America, who consider the Moon a sacred place. They urged NASA to stop the mission because they interpreted it as an act of desecration.
The first of the 2024 lunar landing attempts will be led by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and is expected to take place on January 15th.
JAXA’s Lunar Intelligent Research Lander Module (SLIM) will target a location near the Shioli crater, which lies slightly south of the Moon’s equator on the near side.
China will continue its recent exploration work on the Moon by sending a mission to the dark side to bring rocks back to Earth for study. This should happen mid-year.
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2024-01-08 22:12:39
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