US company’s failed Peregrine Moon lander believed to have burned up after re-entry over Australia
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on January 8, and was scheduled to land on the Moon on February 23 — in what would have been the first US Moon landing in 50 years.
But the company announced on January 9 that its craft would not be able to land after it suffered a “critical” fuel leak and a propulsion system issue while en route.
Astrobotic said in a statement that its vehicle “completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific” at around 8am AEDT on Friday.
Video of the space craft re-entering Earth’s atmosphere above Australia on Friday morning showed it firing its thrusters as it descended.
The Australian Space Agency said in a statement that it monitored the re-entry with its international partners “to assess risk to Australia” and “to assure re-entry was managed safely and effectively, with no threat to people or property”.
Peregrine’s engineers said they had been working with NASA to track the lander’s path, which was unlikely to pose any safety risk during re-entry.
Astrobotic said it had consulted with NASA and other authorities about how best to end its mission following Peregrine’s fuel leak, and it was recommended to allow it to burn up as it was pulled in by Earth’s gravitational pull.
“Ultimately, we must balance our own desire to extend Peregrine’s life, operate payloads, and learn more about the spacecraft, with the risk that our damaged spacecraft could cause a problem in cislunar space,” Astrobotic said.
“As such, we have made the difficult decision to maintain the current spacecraft’s trajectory to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. By responsibly ending Peregrine’s mission, we are doing our part to preserve the future of cislunar space for all.”
The craft spent almost two weeks in space collecting data and sending photos back to Earth, before making its fiery journey home.
Peregrine was carrying five science experiments, as well as a digital time capsule (which included artworks by Australians), a piece of rock from Mount Everest, and the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts like Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.
NASA says copies of four of the five experiments are expected to fly on future flights.
A number of other lunar landers are due to head to the Moon this year.
A craft created by Houston company Intuitive Machines is due to launch on a SpaceX rocket in February, while China plans to send its Chang’e-6 spacecraft to the far side of the Moon in the first half of 2024, and Tokyo-based ispace says it will launch its second Moon mission this year.
NASA, which plans to launch of its lunar polar exploration rover VIPER in November, announced earlier this month that fresh delays to its Artemis Moon program meant its first astronaut lunar landing in half a century was delayed until 2026.
SOURCE: ABCNEWS
