10 January 2024

Astrobiotics: "A "critical loss in fuel" has crushed hopes for the first US moon landing in more than 50 years


AstroboticUS Moon mission has no chance of soft lunar lan

US Moon mission has no chance of soft lunar landing

Astrobotic calculates the craft has under two days' worth of propellant left before reserves are exhausted and the spacecraft starts tumbling.
When that moment arrives, Peregrine, with its solar panels no longer collecting sunlight, will rapidly lose power.
Even before Tuesday's announcement from Astrobotic, it had become clear that a touch-down on the lunar surface - the first for the US in half a century - was all but impossible.
Astrobotic Picture returned from Peregrine in space
An image from Peregrine of warped insulation layers seemed to confirm the propulsion problem
  • The US space agency, NASA, had purchased capacity on the lander for five instruments to study the lunar surface environment ahead of sending astronauts there later this decade.
  • Astrobotic is the first of three US companies to send a lander to the Moon this year under a new private-public partnership with Nasa.
  • Alongside two other commercial ventures - Intuitive Machines and Firefly - they had planned six missions to the lunar surface in 2024.
NASA believes its new lunar partnership with the private sector will introduce more innovation and reduce costs over time. And the agency says it is prepared for some of these missions not to work. . .
Peregrine 1 has 'no chance' of landing on moon due to fuel leak | Space |  The Guardian

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Peregrine Mission 1 is part of NASA’s new CLIPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, which involves the space agency contracting private firms to send science missions to the moon ahead of the first Artemis crewed landing, which could take place next year.
Peregrine Mission 1 is part of NASA’s new CLIPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, which involves the space agency contracting private firms to send science missions to the moon ahead of the first Artemis crewed landing, which could take place next year.
A mission to send the first U.S. lander to the moon in five decades has launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Peregrine Mission 1, operated by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, is aiming to become the first to successfully achieve a soft touchdown of a privately built lunar lander.
The flight also involves the first-ever launch of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is replacing its Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy launchers
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A mission to send the first U.S. lander to the moon in five decades has launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Peregrine Mission 1, operated by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, is aiming to become the first to successfully achieve a soft touchdown of a privately built lunar lander.
The flight also involves the first-ever launch of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is replacing its Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy launchers.

NASA’s new CLIPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services)

Vulcan Centaur launches Peregrine lunar lander on inaugural mission

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur soared into night skies on its long-awaited first launch Jan. 8, carrying a commercial lunar lander.

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Steve Herman: ""No chance of a soft landing o…" - Journa.host
Moon Lander Mission Shortened by Propellant Leak

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