Posted on 01/09/2024 8:18:43 AM PST by Twotone
A towering new rocket has taken flight, carrying what could be the first commercial lander to touch down on the moon — and the first lunar landing mission to launch from the United States since 1972.
The Vulcan Centaur rocket, a never-before-flown model developed by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, roared to life at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 a.m. ET Monday. The launch vehicle soared through space for nearly an hour, expending its fuel as it ripped away from Earth’s gravity and sent the lunar lander, called Peregrine, on its way to the moon.
Just after 3 a.m. ET, the Peregrine spacecraft separated from the rocket and began its slow journey to the lunar surface. If all goes according to plan, the lander could touch down on the moon on February 23.
Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology developed the Peregrine lander — named after the falcon that is the fastest-flying bird in the world — under a contract with NASA.
“It’s a dream … For 16 years we’ve been pushing for this moment today,” Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said during a webcast of the launch. “And along the way, we had a lot of hard challenges that we had to overcome and a lot of people doubted us along the way. But our team and the people that supported us believed in the mission, and they created this beautiful moment that we’re seeing today.”
The space agency paid Astrobotic $108 million to develop Peregrine and fly NASA’s science experiments to the lunar surface.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
https://1819news.com/news/item/first-u-s-launched-moon-landing-mission-in-decades-in-jeopardy
It’s dead, Jim.........................
Oh...too bad!
Interesting it isn’t supposed to land until February 23????
Did they keep the warranty?
High pressure fuel leak and it’s having to use it’s orientation thrusters constantly to keep solar panels pointed toward the sun. Mission over, stick a fork in it.
Very sad, I was rooting for them.
NASA should get the money back if the mission fails.
Results or clawbacks.
The landers solar array is messing up. Kinda quick for a mission ending SNAFU.
Elon just makes this stuff look easy. FedGov needs to take lessons.
It’s good to see NASA productive, but hauling human remains to the Moon sounds like a very expensive vanity project.
Blue Origin made the first-stage engines.
Failure. Running out of fuel by Wednesday. Will end up spinning uselessly in space for eternity.
Way to go DEI appointees!!
The lander is a dud.
Eek!
Peregrine. When it absolutely, positively has to be there in six weeks.
.....”.....humans remains on board.....” gosh; isn’t that a bit gruesome ......?
Thanks.
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