NASA-funded spacecraft suffers mystery 'anomaly' during journey to the Moon
Peregrine Mission-1 took off at 7.18am, on Monday on a mission to become the first US spacecraft to land on the surface of the moon in 52 years.
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NASA reported the private lunar lander Peregrine Mission-1 had experienced an unspecified "anomaly" hours after take off.
The lander took off on Monday morning UK time aiming to be the first shuttle to touch down on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
American company Astrobotic, which was hired by NASA to control the launch, said: "After successfully separating from United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander began receiving telemetry via the NASA Deep Space Network.
"Astrobotic-built avionics systems, including the primary command and data handling unit, as well as the thermal, propulsion, and power controllers, all powered on and performed as expected.
"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 team is responding in real-time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as more data is obtained and analysed."
Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing a 1.9-meter-tall Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico.
The ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke were also brought on board.
NASA wanted the privately owned lander to scope out the place before astronauts arrived while delivering NASA tech and science experiments as well as odds and ends for other customers.
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Astrobotic's contract for the Peregrine lander is worth $108 million. The last time the US launched a moon landing mission was in December 1972.
Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.
The space agency’s new Artemis program has been working to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years.
But first, the agency will seek to conduct a lunar fly-around with four astronauts, possibly before the end of the year.
Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander's more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another.
The hourlong descent to the lunar surface - by far the biggest challenge - will be “exciting, nail-biting, terrifying all at once,” Thornton said.
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