Surely you remember the NASA and Astrobiotic mission from last month, when a spacecraft had the goal of reaching the Moon to start one of the great space projects of this decade.
Astrobotic, based in Pittsburgh, stated earlier this week that the incineration of the Peregrine spacecraft poses no risks to safety and will remove from orbit what would otherwise become a dangerous piece of space debris.
The mission was supposed to be the first American lunar lander since the last Apollo mission, five decades ago, but a propellant leak that started shortly after launch on January 8 prevented the spacecraft from reaching the lunar surface.
The spacecraft did not reach the Moon, but the mission has not been a failure
However, the attempt to also become the first private company to land a module on the Moon has not been considered a complete failure, as Astrobotic managed to keep the spacecraft operational for much longer than expected, in part because the propellant leak subsided.
This allowed the team to activate some of Peregrine’s 21 payloads and perform other checks on the vehicle, and the data collected will be useful for future Astrobotic missions.
The Peregrine 1 mission was part of NASA’s new CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, which consists of the space agency hiring commercial entities to send scientific missions to the Moon before the first manned Artemis landing, scheduled for 2026.
“I am very proud of what our team has achieved with this mission,” recently declared John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic. “It is a great honor to witness firsthand the heroic efforts of our mission control team, overcoming enormous challenges to recover and operate the spacecraft after Monday’s propulsion anomaly.”
Thornton added: “This mission has already taught us a lot and has given me great confidence that our next mission to the Moon will achieve a smooth landing”.
The Griffin Lander will participate in that mission, which Astrobotic hopes to place on the lunar surface in November. The goal is to conquer the stars. We are closer than ever.
