As of: January 19, 2024, 5:18 a.m
By: Tanja Banner
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“Peregrine” was actually supposed to herald NASA’s return to the moon.
But instead of landing on the moon, the probe is supposed to burn up in Earth orbit today.
Update from January 18th, 10:45 a.m.:
The original plan was for the “Peregrine” space probe to continue its journey through the universe until February 23rd before touching down on the moon.
But a fuel leak forces the operating company Astrobotic to change this plan.
Instead of remaining in space, Peregrine will return to Earth today.
And in a spectacular way: At 10 p.m., the probe is scheduled to plunge into the Earth's atmosphere over the South Pacific and burn there - "without any expected hazards," according to a statement from the American space company Astrobotic.
This fiery ending was certainly not what Astrobotic was hoping for for their lunar mission.
Still, it has the advantage of not causing more space debris to fly around the universe or crash on the moon, like a Chinese rocket did.
First report from January 16, 2024:
Pittsburgh - In space travel, joy and suffering are often close together.
The current “Peregrine Mission One” from the private space company Astrobotic from Pittsburgh is the best example of this.
On January 8th, the spacecraft flew into space on the maiden flight of ULA's new "Vulcan" rocket.
What initially seemed like a success turned out to be a failure just a few hours later: the “Peregrine” probe was running out of fuel and it quickly became clear that it would not be able to achieve its mission goal – a landing on the moon.
But Astrobotic did everything they could to get as much data as possible from the mission.
The fuel leak has now been contained to some extent, and the instruments on board the lunar lander have been activated to collect data.
Only the moon landing remains out of reach.
Instead, the company has now determined what should happen to “Peregrine” moving forward.
The end is bitter: The space probe that was supposed to land on the moon will aim for Earth and burn up when it enters the Earth's atmosphere.
A depiction of the Peregrine spacecraft on the lunar surface.
© --/Astrobotic Technology/dpa
“Peregrine” was supposed to land on the moon – now the space probe is crashing into Earth
A statement from Astrobotic said: "While we believe it is possible that the spacecraft will continue to operate for several weeks and possibly raise the orbit to miss Earth, we must take into account the anomalous condition of the propulsion system and the “Use the vehicle’s onboard capabilities to complete the mission responsibly and safely.” This recommendation was also received from the space community.
Therefore, “the difficult decision was made to maintain the current trajectory of the spacecraft in order to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.” It might also have been possible to have “Peregrine” hit the moon, alternatively the space probe would have been left as uncontrollable space debris can float in space.
However, Astrobotic decided to “responsibly complete the mission”.
"We do not believe that Peregrine's re-entry poses a safety risk and that the spacecraft will burn up in Earth's atmosphere," the statement said.
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NASA is involved in Astrobotic’s “Peregrine” mission
Exactly when “Peregrine” will crash into Earth has not yet been released.
However, the Astrobotic announcement states that the mission will end on January 18th.
Details are to be announced on January 18th at 6 p.m. CET in a joint press conference with the US space organization NASA.
NASA is involved in the failed moon landing because it financed the lunar lander with $108 million and itself financed five instruments on board “Peregrine”.
The planned moon landing was supposed to herald NASA's return to the moon and represent the first soft landing by a private company - there can no longer be any question of that.
But both Astrobotic and NASA are not giving up: Both want to make another attempt in November 2024, this time with the larger “Griffin” lander, which will transport the NASA rover “Viper” to the south pole of the moon.
NASA wants to continue flying to the moon
As early as February, NASA wants to make another attempt to get to the moon with the private company Intuitive Machines.
The Japanese “Slim” mission, which started in September 2023 and is scheduled to land on the moon on January 19, could forestall this.
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