The private American lander Peregrine, which took off on Monday but suffered serious problems in flight shortly afterwards, has “no chance” of reaching the lunar surface as initially planned, said the company Astrobotic, which designed the probe.
Due to a fuel leak, unfortunately, there is no possibility of a soft landing on the Moon, Astrobotic wrote in a statement published on X.
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Artistic illustration showing the pilgrim on the surface of the Moon.
The mission was to mark the first landing of an American spacecraft on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program more than 50 years ago. Astrobotic could also have become the first private company to successfully land on Earth’s natural satellite.
Despite this failure, we still have enough fuel to continue maneuvering the vehicle like a ship, Astrobotic said. We currently estimate that we will run out of fuel in approximately 40 hours.
The upstart company, based in Pennsylvania, said it continues to receive valuable data for its next moon landing attempt.
The plane took off from Florida on Monday, aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from the ULA industrial group.
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This photo, taken in December 2023, shows the Peregrine lander preparing to be attached to the Vulcan Centaur rocket from the ULA industrial group, which brings together Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The lander, called Peregrine, was developed by Astrobotic with financial support from NASA, which commissioned this company to transport scientific equipment to the Moon, a contract worth $108 million.
The launch inaugurated a series of lunar missions supported by the US space agency, keen to encourage the development of a lunar economy. NASA has made deals with several companies, including Astrobotic, to send experiments and technologies to the Moon – a program called CLPS.
This failure therefore also marks a setback for the American space agency, even if it was not directly involved in the maneuver. However, she said she was aware of the risks in relying on young businesses.
Space flight is a bold adventure, NASA chief Bill Nelson reacted on Monday on X after the announcement of the difficulties encountered. NASA will continue to expand its reach into the cosmos with our commercial partners, he promised.
Another American company selected by NASA for its program, Intuitive Machines, will attempt the adventure again very soon: it will have to take off for the Moon at the earliest in mid-February, with a SpaceX rocket.
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Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander lifted off from Florida, aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from the ULA group, which brings together Boeing and Lockheed Martin, on January 8, 2024. Video source: United Launch Alliance via Reuters
Astrobotic’s mission also included loads of private customers on board.
Among these, the ashes or DNA of dozens of people, including those of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the famous science fiction television series Star Trek. A partnership with the Celestis company, specializing in commemorative space flights.
Sending these ashes to the Moon aroused the wrath of the Navajo Native American tribe, who denounced the desecration of a sacred place.
Celestis CEO Charles M. Chafer said Tuesday that his company has enough samples to include its customers on a new flight in case the mission does not arrive at its intended destination.
To date, only four nations – the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India – have managed to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon.
In recent years, private Israeli and Japanese companies have also attempted to land on the Moon, but these missions ended in accidents.
A mission from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) is also expected to attempt to land in about two weeks. Russia, for its part, spectacularly missed a moon landing this summer.
2024-01-10 09:00:00
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