The USA is about to Launch a Lunar Lander aboard a New Rocket. Peregrine on the Vulcan Centaur.

The USA will attempt to launch the Peregrine lunar lander aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket on January 8th at 2:18 am EST.

As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis program, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Astrobotic are targeting 2:18 a.m. EST Monday, Jan. 8, for the first commercial robotic launch to the Moon’s surface. Carrying NASA science, liftoff of ULA’s Vulcan rocket and Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander will happen from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Live launch coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Thursday, Jan. 4. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media. Follow events online at: www.nasa.gov... Peregrine will land on the Moon on Friday, Feb. 23. The NASA payloads aboard the lander aim to help the agency develop capabilities needed to explore the Moon under Artemis and in advance of human missions on the lunar surface. Full coverage of this mission is as follows (all times Eastern):

The initial mission schedule and other specifics can be found here.

NASA Sets Coverage for ULA, Astrobotic Artemis Robotic Moon Launch

About the lander and it's mission:

Mission 1 is about 1.9 m high and roughly 2.5 m across. It is a box-shaped main body sitting on four landing legs. The main structural landing bus is composed of aluminum isogrid shear panels and aluminum honeycomb mounting surfaces with one primary deck divided into four parts. Propulsion is provided by five TALOS-150 667-N thrusters mounted on the bottom of the lander. They use a hypergolic system of Mono-Methyl Hydrazine (MMH) fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide/nitrogen dioxide, 25% Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen (MON-25) oxidizer. Four sets of three 45-N attitude control thrusters maintain orientation. Attitude knowledge is provided by Sun and star trackers, inertial measurement, and Doppler radio and LIDAR, with the landing sensors mounted on the bottom of the bus.

The mission will carry about 10 payloads of various types, the lander has a payload mass capacity of 90 kg. The scientific payload includes the Laser Retro-Reflector Array (LRA), Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS), Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), and Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS). Five other science payloads were originally planned for Peregrine Mission 1, but are being reallocated to other future lunar delivery missions. These are: Photovoltaic Investigation on Lunar Surface (PILS), Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo), and Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS), Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG), and Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers (SEAL).

Additional details in the link:

Peregrine Mission 1 (TO2-AB)

About the new rocket and it's mission:

Launch will take place from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket in the VC2S configuration, with 2 GEM-63XL solid boosters, a standard short faring, and two RL10 engines in the Centaur upper stage. The launch window opens on 8 January 2024, with launch currently scheduled at 07:18 UT. After an Earth orbit period and cruise to the Moon, followed by a lunar orbit phase, it will descend and land in Sinus Viscositatis (Bay of Stickiness) adjacent to the Gruitheisen Domes on the northeast border of Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). It is planned to land on February 23, shortly after local sunrise, and to operate for about 192 hours.

VULCAN - AMERICA'S ROCKET - ONE SYSTEM FOR ALL MISSIONS.

I'll post updates and video as they become available.

It's all smoke & mirrors. Have you seen the fake footage from China & India recently? Scams. Same thing with NASA, only NASA has an exponentially larger budget with which to fool the people, making it remarkably easy to trick people into believing that space exploration is a real thing, as opposed to the reality, which is that we live in a purpose built realm, a Creation, consisting of a planar Earth, surrounded by the Antarctic ice wall, and at the 90th parallel there begins the circumscription of a firmament 'dome' which extends all the way up & over the skies which we are privileged to fly through (not for long if the WEF have their wicked way) - and all the commercial pilots will readily admit that they do not need to adjust the nose of the plane down every couple of minutes to avoid flying off into space by accident, which is what would happen if we did indeed live on a globe. The firmament I believe is not simply a dome, but rather it is a vast sphere which encompasses the entire realm - the Earth, the sky, the fountains of the great deep below the surface of the Earth, and the magma chambers below the surface of the Earth. The firmament, containing the fixed & wandering stars, revolves around the entirety of the Earth realm, rotating about the fixed central point of Polaris, the North Star, which is raised high above the centre of our world, the North Pole, where the Rupes Negra, the BLACK ROCK (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) is located, the great mountain which is raised up above the point at which the ocean's tides are breathed in & out twice per day. The tides probably have something to do with the theorised black hole which is thought to be located beneath the polar opening, the waters of the vasty deep swirling into the collapsed star which pulsates rhythmically to draw water in & push it back out, regular as clockwork. I could go on & on, but I'll leave it there for now. Check out the infrared footage of the Rocky mountains at three hundred to five hundred miles distant, which should be way over the horizon, totally hidden by Earth curvature if we did indeed live on a globe. But we don't, so they're clearly visible in the footage.

Rocky Mountains visible at 300-500 miles distance, totally impossible if we lived on a globe - but not impossible at all seeing as we live on a flat plane

As one charming & studious man once said regarding the supposed upcoming Apollo missions to the Moon: "Well that will never happen, you see? The Moon is a plasma [phenomenon], so it's not possible to land anything on it"

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Maybe you should start a separate thread about why you think the Earth is flat.

This thread is to be used for tracking the Peregrine mission for those with a current scientific understanding of space, not for arguing about flat earth. Please do that elsewhere.

This is interesting.

Peregrine Mission-1: Lander carries DNA of former US presidents and Star Trek icons on moon

Since the landing of Apollo 17 in the year 1972, Peregrine Mission – 1 is the first US spacecraft to land on the surface of the moon, taking off at 7:18 am UK time.

Astrobotic, the American company is controlling the robotic lander of a garden shed's size. The start-up has been paid $108m for getting the five scientific instruments that will be carried to the moon. The cost stands at a fraction of the cost for the launch of its mission.

The lander carries with it the DNA of the well-known former US presidents which include that of John F Kennedy and the Star Trek icons.

The remains on board include those of Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek creator, and his son and wife. It also includes James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, and DeForest Kelley, who played Montgomery Scott, Nyota Uhura, and Dr. Leonard McCoy.

The DNA of former US presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, and George Washington have also been transported.

When is the landing scheduled for? The landing of the Peregrine Mission has been scheduled for 23rd February. Earlier Mr. Thornton stated that the craft would be spending 12 days moving between the lunar orbit and the Earth, but the majority of the time would be a waiting period, moving around the moon, because of the localized lighting situations of the landing site of the team to be accurate.

Peregrine Mission – 1 is going to land on the surface of the moon, taking off at 7:18 am UK time. It is the first US spacecraft to be the landing on the moon's surface, since Apollo 17 in 1972.

This is the beginning of a new moon landing space age or moon tourism, IMO.

“It’s going to be a wild, wild ride,” promised Astrobotic’s chief executive John Thornton.

His counterpart at Intuitive Machines, Steve Altemus, said the space race is "more about the geopolitics, where China is going, where the rest of the world’s going.” That said, “We sure would like to be first.”

The two companies have been nose to nose since receiving nearly $80 million each in 2019 under a NASA program to develop lunar delivery services. Fourteen companies are now under contract by NASA.

abcnews.go.com...

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

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.

UPDATE #4 FOR PEREGRINE MISSION ONE

Latest update from Astrobotics:

The Peregrine spacecraft has now been operational for about 32 hours.
Overnight, the team faced another spacecraft pointing issue, but continues to persevere. The spacecraft started to tilt away from the Sun and reduced its solar power generation. The team was able to update the control algorithm and fix this issue. The batteries are at full charge.

Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the Moon. However, we do still have enough propellant to continue to operate the vehicle as a spacecraft. The team has updated its estimates, and we currently expect to run out of propellant in about 40 hours from now — an improvement from last night’s estimate. The team continues to work to find ways to extend Peregrine’s operational life. We are in a stable operating mode and are working payload and spacecraft tests and checkouts. We continue receiving valuable data and proving spaceflight operations for components and software relating to our next lunar lander mission, Griffin.

a reply to: IndieA

Wow so many problems but this gives them the knowledge as to where to make mechanical or design changes.

a reply to: IndieA

RE: www.bbc.com...

No chance of a Moon Landing now. Does this mean the USA was more advanced in 1968? Not just our life expectancy is deteriorating?

originally posted by: WeMustCare
a reply to: IndieA

RE: www.bbc.com...

No chance of a Moon Landing now. Does this mean the USA was more advanced in 1968? Not just our life expectancy is deteriorating?

I think they said no chance of a 'soft landing' so are they planning a 'hard landing'? ETA: So they say any landing is off the table as they only have 40 hours of propellant left. Too bad they didn't shield it in a cocoon that could do hard landings, as a 'just in case' fall back plan.

I do find it curious as to why there are so many problematic lunar missions these days. The US Apollo and Soviet Luna programs seemed to enjoy greater success in the past. Assuming the rockets didn't blow up on launch that is.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

...making it remarkably easy to trick people into believing that space exploration is a real thing...

Please, save this nonsense for your religious threads and out of things that are real, like space, science and technology. Thanks.

Update #10 for Peregrine Mission One

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.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

"As one charming & studious man once said regarding the supposed upcoming Apollo missions to the Moon: "Well that will never happen, you see? The Moon is a plasma [phenomenon], so it's not possible to land anything on it"

Whatever happened to "deny ignorance"?

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

As one charming & studious man once said regarding the supposed upcoming Apollo missions to the Moon: "Well that will never happen, you see? The Moon is a plasma [phenomenon], so it's not possible to land anything on it"

Well whoever said that sure ended up looking like a complete moron in short order, didn’t they? Why must fundamentalists post nonsense in every space/science thread?

On-topic I don’t have much hope for this leaky probe. Seems the DNA of Presidents and Star Trek people will have to wait. Will continue to read with interest since I think it’s great various nations are returning to the Moon. Needs to be more space stuff in general. Even if it is motivated mostly by childish petty squabbling and one-upsmanship between rival nations more than anything else.

SPAM removed

Apparently that leak stopped being so much of an issue, but the thing is on it's way back to Earth and will probably burn up in the atmosphere.

Update 16:



source

The ultimate fate of Peregrine:

That launch went well, but Peregrine suffered a fuel leak shortly after separating from the rocket's upper stage. The lander couldn't reach the moon, so its handlers steered it to a controlled destruction in Earth's atmosphere on Jan. 18.

Source