https://www.space.com/vulcan-centaur-peregrine-moon-lander-cleared-for-launch

 

A brand-new rocket and a private moon lander are ready to make their spaceflight debuts

Edited January 6, 20242 yr by martin-w

Awesome!

American made Blue Origin natural gas fueled main engines - check.

American made Northrop Grumman solid fuel boosters - check.

American made Aerojet Rocketdyne RL-10 second stage engines - check.

I really hope the methane fueled engines work well, as this is a plentiful, cleaner-burning fuel.

I'd also be content if the engines were made by some other, let's say more friendly, countries, but I'm really happy that we're no longer relying on certain less-friendly countries any more.

Dave

A flatulence powered rocket, you say?  Big bada boom, maybe?

BLASTOFF!

It's the weakend....I couldn't help myself! 🙄

 

And onboard will be a bunch of tiny 4 inch long robots that will be flung by a catapult. They will band together and explore the surface.

 

https://mashable.com/article/nasa-astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander

12 hours ago, charliearon said:

A flatulence powered rocket, you say?  Big bada boom, maybe?

BLASTOFF!

It's the weakend....I couldn't help myself! 🙄

 

Yeah, they've been paying me to eat at Taco Bell for the last three weeks now. 😁

Effectively, this is the first commercialization of the Moon. Bigger deal than it appears. 

Update 12:45 p.m ET: Astrobotic has issued an update on the anomaly its Peregrine lunar lander experienced. "We have successfully re-established communications with Peregrine after the known communication blackout. The team's improvised maneuver was successful in reorienting Peregrine's solar array towards the sun."

The lander is now charging its battery. Astrobotic continues to investigate the cause of the anomaly, which it believes to be a "failure within the propulsion system" aboard Peregrine.

The Astrobotic Peregrine moon lander launched into an elliptical orbit in the wee hours of today atop the a Vulcan Centaur rocket built by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). The mission is the maiden voyage for ULA's new launch vehicle, and the Peregrine lander has the potential to be the first private mission ever to touch down safely on the lunar surface.

However, the lander suffered an anomaly just hours into voyage that may threaten its entire moon-landing mission, according to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic. It was expected to land on the moon on Feb. 23.

"After successful propulsion systems activation, Peregrine entered a safe operational state. Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation," the company wrote in a statement released seven hours after the mission's 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT) liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. "The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as more data is obtained and analyzed."

In a second update, Astrobotic reported that a propulsion issue may be the cause. 

"The team believes that the likely cause of the unstable sun-pointing is a propulsion anomaly that, if proven true, threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the Moon," the company wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

I was just posting on the issue. You beat me to it. 😉

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by martin-w

Update 1 p.m. ET: Astrobotic has issued a fourth update on the anomaly its Peregrine lunar lander is experiencing and it appears the mission will not go as planned after all. 

"Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant," the company wrote. "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."

On 1/6/2024 at 4:33 PM, dave2013 said:

Awesome!

American made Blue Origin natural gas fueled main engines - check.

American made Northrop Grumman solid fuel boosters - check.

American made Aerojet Rocketdyne RL-10 second stage engines - check.

I really hope the methane fueled engines work well, as this is a plentiful, cleaner-burning fuel.

I'd also be content if the engines were made by some other, let's say more friendly, countries, but I'm really happy that we're no longer relying on certain less-friendly countries any more.

Dave

(Menacing click of clockwork orange switchblade) Eh? They are not British!!?

So now, all eyes will be on the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander for mid to late February. 

https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-im-1-lunar-mission-launch-update 

I wonder what they have planned for an "alternative mission profile". Presumably just orbiting the Moon and carrying out whatever science they can. 

Doesn't look like it will make it to the moon at all, or at least not with power.

https://nitter.net/astrobotic/status/1744543629392134194?s=20

Don't all the payload components have to be unpacked on the moon's surface in order to be made operational?

Also, what to do about the human ashes? At least they are just small, symbolic samples.

Looks like it might have been a stuck valve.

 

https://www.space.com/astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-anomaly-valve