It goes back to square one, but may not reach it. A U.S. company's lunar lander that experienced a fuel leak is now heading toward Earth and will likely burn up in the atmosphere, the startup Astrobotic said Saturday. The company has been publishing regular updates on the status of the Peregrine lunar lander since it lifted off on Jan. 8 aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from the Ula Group, which includes Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Shortly after separating from the rocket, the spacecraft suffered an explosion on board and it quickly became apparent that it would not be able to land softly on the Moon as originally planned, due to a fuel leak. The Astrobotic team, however, managed to launch scientific experiments that they carried on behalf of NASA and other space agencies, while collecting flight data.
"Our latest estimate shows that the spacecraft is heading toward Earth, where it will likely burn up in the atmosphere," the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company said on X. The team is in the process of evaluating possible options and we will keep you updated as soon as possible. The robot has been in space for more than five days and is currently 390,000 kilometers from our planet, Astrobotic added.
New attempts planned
In addition to the scientific equipment, the spacecraft is carrying cargo for Astrobotic's private customers, including a sports drink can, a physical bitcoin, and ashes and DNA from humans and animals. It was also scheduled to deliver $108 million worth of scientific equipment to NASA.
To date, only four nations – the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India – have managed to land a plane on the Moon. Of these, only the United States has ever sent human beings there. In recent years, private Israeli and Japanese companies have also attempted to land on the moon, but these missions have ended in crashes.
Despite this setback, NASA officials have indicated that they will continue to make more attempts to increase their chances of success. The next one will be Intuitive Machines, in February. Astrobotic itself will get another chance in November with its Griffin lander carrying NASA's VIPER rover to the Moon's South Pole.