by Jan. 8 (UPI) — The Peregrin lunar lander, the first US mission in five decades with a final destination on the moon, suffered a “critical loss of propellant” due to an issue within its propulsion system, its developer Astrobotic said on Monday, after successful launch from Florida.
Astrobotic said Monday night that the propellant leak was forcing Peregrin’s thrusters to operate “well beyond their expected service lifetimes” to keep it from tumbling out of control.
“If the thrusters can continue to operate, we believe the spacecraft could continue in a solar stable state for about another 40 hours, based on current fuel consumption,” he said in a Falcon Mission update. one.
The lunar lander lifted off aboard United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from the famed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, aiming to return the United States to the moon for first time since the final flight in 1972. of the Apollo program.
The Peregrin payload successfully separated from the rocket about 50 minutes later, but within hours of the Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s launch. reported An “anomaly” was preventing the craft from “finding a stable solar orientation” necessary for its solar panel to charge its batteries.
it said later the unstable sun-point is probably caused by a “propulsion anomaly,” which “threatens the ability of the spacecraft to land on the moon.”
After communicating with the Lunar Lander, the team at Astrobotic was able to contact Peregrin and redirect their solar array towards the sun to recharge its batteries.”
With its battery fully charged, he said, engineers were using Peregrine’s current power to carry out as many payload and spacecraft operations as possible.
“At this time, the goal is to get the Falcon as close to lunar distance as we can before it loses the ability to maintain its solar position and then it loses power,” he said on Monday night .
The Lunar Lander was expected to attempt the historic moon landing on February 23.
“This mission is the beginning of a historic time,” said Alivia Chapla, director of marketing and communications at Astrobotic, during the live broadcast of the launch and before issues arising with Peregrine.
The Lunar Lander was intended to bring 20 payloads to the surface of the moon, including five for NASA. Five more were originally planned but were reallocated for future missions, according to the US Federal Agency.
NASA’s science payloads include the laser retro-reflector array, the linear energy transfer spectrometer and the near-infrared volatile spectrometer system.
Six Nations have a payload on the Peregrine Lunar Lander, Astrobotic said. The moon was also carrying human remains and the DNA of 66 people. According to NASA, the Lander has a payload capacity of nearly 200 pounds.
The launch was also the first of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, known as CLPS, in which the Federal Space Agency engages US companies to deliver science and technology to the moon.
NASA said the companies allow it to further explore the moon as it prepares to send the first woman and first person of color to its surface under its Artemis program.
“We wanted to take advantage of all the new ideas, entrepreneurial spirit and engineering innovation that these small companies and startups in the United States bring,” said Joel Kearns, associate administrator for exploration in the Science Mission Directorate. NASA, during the live broadcast.
“We think they can help make the overall lunar effort much better.” The weather was 85% favorable for the launch.
Monday’s technical issue highlights the challenge of lunar missions.
Some of the high-profile failed Moon missions in recent memory included Japan’s Hakuto-R Commercial Lunar Lander Mission. It failed when ground control lost contact with the craft as it was scheduled to land on the lunar surface, leading to a presumed crash landing.
In March, the previous month, a unique 3D-printed Space rocket was launched but did not reach orbit. The engine failure came weeks after two launch attempts.
India’s failed attempt to land on the moon during one of its first missions followed an April 2019 attempt by the first privately funded spacecraft to cool the moon after encountering issues during its descent – a combination of engine and communication errors resulting in a crash landing.
