Tag: Astrobotic
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NASA’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission Yields Valuable Data Despite Missing Moon
NASA’s recent mission to send payloads on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, launched in January on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, faced a setback when a propellant leak prevented the spacecraft from attempting a lunar landing. Despite this, valuable data was still collected from the mission. According to Dan Hendrickson, vice president of Astrobotic, many of…
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NASA urged Astrobotic not to send its hamstrung spacecraft toward the Moon
Astrobotic knew its first space mission would be rife with risks. After all, the company’s Peregrine spacecraft would attempt something never done before—landing a commercial spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The most hazardous part of the mission, actually landing on the Moon, would happen more than a month after Peregrine’s launch. But the…
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Astrobotic’s lunar lander falls into South Pacific after missing out on moon landing
One of the last pictures taken by a camera on the Peregrine lander shows a crescent Earth. (Astrobotic Photo) Ten days after its launch, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander fell back to Earth, ending a trip to the moon’s orbital distance and back that was doomed by a propellant leak. The mission began auspiciously on the…
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Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander ends mission in fiery reentry
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander captured by a camera mounted onboard the lander on its second day in space. Image: Astrobotic The first U.S. lander bound for the Moon since 1972 burned up in Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday. The unfortunate ending for Astrobotic’s spacecraft was deemed the most responsible choice given its hopes of reaching the…
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The situation with Astrobotic’s lunar lander appears to be quite dire
On Monday morning, the new Vulcan rocket made a smashing debut, launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and performing flawlessly. After 50 minutes of flight, the rocket’s upper stage deployed its primary payload—the Peregrine lunar lander—into a Moon-bound trajectory. United Launch Alliance declared complete success with its new rocket. After the deployment…
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America’s first lunar lander in a half-century won’t reach the Moon
A few hours after a successful liftoff on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, Astrobotic’s first commercial lunar lander ran into serious trouble. The robotic Peregrine lander, still in orbit around Earth, appears to have a propellant leak that will prevent it from reaching the Moon. There are 20 payloads aboard the Peregrine lunar lander, including…
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Astrobotic rules out soft landing on moon after propellant leak dooms its spacecraft
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander is shown during last month’s preparations for launch. (ULA Photo) Astrobotic says that it’s given up on its plan to put a commercial spacecraft safely on the moon’s surface, due to a propellant leak that will soon leave its Peregrine lander without fuel. The Pittsburgh-based company said there was no indication that…
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ULA’s Vulcan rocket shot for the Moon on debut launch—and hit a bullseye
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—Right out of the gate, United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket chased perfection. The Vulcan launcher hit its marks after lifting off from Florida’s Space Coast for the first time early Monday, successfully deploying a commercial robotic lander on a journey to the Moon and keeping ULA’s unblemished success record intact. “Yeehaw! I…
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Astrobotic’s moon lander suffers failure in propulsion system, putting mission at risk
An artist’s conception shows Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander with Earth in the background. (Astrobotic via YouTube) Hours after the launch of its commercial moon lander, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic reported a failure within the robotic spacecraft’s propulsion system that could rule out a soft landing. “Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical…
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First Vulcan rocket launches commercial moon lander with a boost from Blue Origin
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (NASA via YouTube) Update: Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander fell back to Earth 10 days after launch due to a propellant leak that ruled out a moon landing. United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off for the first time tonight, making use…