Astrobotic’s Peregrine One Moon lander Launches but hits a Problem

Astrobotic is one of the companies chosen by NASA to provide logistics services to the Moon , Peregrine One is their transport lander they designed to carry cargo to the Moon ahead of Man's return to our satellite , a successful mission would make them the first private company to land on the Moon.

As well as scientific equipment the lander is also carrying the remains of Star Trek cast members and the DNA of former US presidents including John F Kennedy .... I do wish they wouldn't do stuff like this.

Peregrine One successfully launched on top of a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket and all was going well after separation until problems orienting the lander's solar panels toward the Sun were reported , Astrobotic have since said the reason for the problem was a "propulsion anomaly" and that the landers batteries are operationally low , they've carried out an "improvised manoeuvre" to try to catch the Sun but have suffered communication problems with the craft , hopefully they can sort the problems but I doubt it .... 2 more companies are due to launch their landers this year so all is not lost.

Latest press release.

Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant. The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time.
www.astrobotic.com...

Peregrine-1's position now.

Well, guess a lot of money just got wasted. It will mean any company that that company is associated with, including the insurance company, will have to raise their rates to cover the loss of the ship. I hope Autoowners does not insure that project, I pay too much for my car insurance already.

a reply to: gortex

Elon had problems with his launch too.. should be plane sailing these days considering we went to the moon as those years ago.. or did we..

a reply to: purplemer

No one wants us there!

a reply to: gortex


Maybe it's not just our indigenous peoples that don't want us using Luna as a dumping ground for our Human junk, we've already destroyed one planet.

a reply to: djz3ro

Plus all the junk moving around the earth! Until it burns up!🔥

originally posted by: purplemer
a reply to: gortex

Elon had problems with his launch too.. should be plane sailing these days considering we went to the moon as those years ago.. or did we..

'course we did just ask Never A Straight Answer...

a reply to: JJproductions

Would that be the junk or earth??!!

I think we as a species is so wasteful that we need the “stick and carrot” approach of guidance. In space, every amount of energy needs to be utilized in all ways possible before “exhausting out to space”. And it would help us even more if it was not nuclear waste.

If anything that is why we were warned away from space exploration because we would do the same thing to space as we have done to our oceans (and atmosphere and ground and potable water and…)

Or it is just a big coincidence.

Where did I park my Tesla…

Latest statement from Astrobotic as of 20 minutes ago , still shooting for the Moon.

originally posted by: gortex
Latest statement from Astrobotic as of 20 minutes ago , still shooting for the Moon.

So they have it under control but it can't complete it's mission which is a real shame. The right thing to do now would be to let it reenter Earth's atmosphere to burn up provided there's enough fuel left. Better than yet another abandoned hulk in space.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

I think the plan is to point it at the Moon and hard land it which would kind of complete the mission , the former President's DNA will be on the Moon and that part is US territory.

The race to claim rights on the Moon is in full swing , the fact the UK and EU haven't made their move yet is symbolic of their short-sightedness.

There's Gold in them thar hills !

My questions is.....why is Space X no longer involved. There are some odd politics at play. ULA is Lockheed/Boeing. They want to get there before Musk. He wants to go to Mars but wants real estate on the moon.

Then when we look closer we see the engines are from....drum roll please.....Bllue Origin.

Bezos....

We are doomed.

originally posted by: matafuchs
My questions is.....why is Space X no longer involved. There are some odd politics at play. ULA is Lockheed/Boeing. They want to get there before Musk. He wants to go to Mars but wants real estate on the moon.

Then when we look closer we see the engines are from....drum roll please.....Bllue Origin.

Bezos....

We are doomed.

It probably just has to do with price and lead-time bidding.

There are at least three companies launching rockets from Cape Canaveral and I'm pretty sure they all stay busy.

I found it impressive that the first mission launch using the new Vulcan rocket went off without a hitch, so congratulations to ULA on that. The engines burned beautifully and it was also nice to see the faces of mission control, for a change.

a reply to: IndieA

Yeah. I am all for all of the teams winning it was really just more of a general question. I mean SpaceX just sent up the spy plane (very cool launch) and I want to say did 90+ missions last year.

To me, a kid who grew up thinking the shuttle was the coolest, I love seeing this stuff. We are only about 50 miles from the Cape so we get great views.

a reply to: matafuchs

My questions is.....why is Space X no longer involved

They are still involved mate , SpaceX have some brilliant minds which is why they are working on the Landing System for the precious Human cargo NASA's Orion lander will be carrying to the Moon , the job of getting equipment to the Moon was outsourced with 3 companies looking to provide logistics services for NASA.

Latest news from Astrobotic.

Peregrine has been operational in space for 55 hours. We are at an approximate distance of 192,000 miles from Earth, which is 80% of the way to lunar distance. Although we are approaching lunar distance, the Moon won’t be there. We remain on our nominal trajectory for the mission, which includes a phasing loop around Earth. This loop goes out to lunar distance, swings back around the Earth, and then cruises out to meet the Moon. This trajectory reaches the Moon in about 15 days post-launch.

Peregrine continues to leak propellant but remains operationally stable and continues to gather valuable data. We estimate that we will run out of propellant in about 35 hours, an improvement on yesterday’s update. The team is working around the clock to generate options to extend the spacecraft’s life.
www.astrobotic.com...

Peregrine is at Lunar distance and still working , they still have fuel and determination.

Peregrine remains operational at about 238,000 miles from Earth, which means that we have reached lunar distance! As we posted in Update #10, the Moon is not where the spacecraft is now (see graphic). Our original trajectory had us arriving at the Moon on day 15 post launch. Our propellant estimates currently have us running out of fuel before this 15-day mark — however, our engineers are still optimistic about extending Peregrine’s life expectancy.

On Thursday, January 18, 2024, at NOON ET, Astrobotic is hosting a teleconference with NASA for major mission updates and will be streamed on select NASA channels. With Peregrine operating in a stable configuration and a teleconference imminent, we will post an update tomorrow, but will be slowing down our update cadence for now. Thank you again for the words of support we’ve received for our team.
www.astrobotic.com...