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Update #7 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/qAPcChVROO
— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 9, 2024
The mission would be the first landing of an American spacecraft on the moon since the end of the Apollo program more than 50 years ago. Astrobotic could have also become the first private company to successfully land on the moon.
Despite this failure, “we still have enough fuel to continue operating the vehicle as a ship,” Astrobotic said. “We are currently anticipating that we will run out of fuel in about 40 hours.” The young Pennsylvania-based startup said it was continuing to receive “valuable data” for its next lunar landing attempt.
Also read: Peregrine, the uncertain hope for an American return to the moon
American Mission Series
The machine took off from Florida on Monday aboard the ULA industrial group’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket.
The lander, named Peregrine, was developed by Astrobotic with financial support from NASA, which contracted that company to transport scientific equipment to the moon, a contract worth $108 million.
The launch initiated a series of lunar missions supported by the American space agency to promote the development of a lunar economy. In recent years, private Israeli and Japanese companies have also attempted to land on the moon, but those missions ended in crashes.
So far, only four nations – the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India – have managed to successfully land a device on the moon.
Also read: In 2024 on the way to the moon, Mars, Europa and the asteroids
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