{"id":17229,"date":"2024-01-20T01:51:22","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T17:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astrobotics-lunar-lander-falls-into-south-pacific-after-missing-out-on-moon-landing\/"},"modified":"2024-01-20T01:51:22","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T17:51:22","slug":"astrobotics-lunar-lander-falls-into-south-pacific-after-missing-out-on-moon-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astrobotics-lunar-lander-falls-into-south-pacific-after-missing-out-on-moon-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrobotic\u2019s lunar lander falls into South Pacific after missing out on moon landing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the last pictures taken by a camera on the Peregrine lander shows a crescent Earth. (Astrobotic Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ten days after its launch, Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine lunar lander fell back to Earth, ending a trip to the moon\u2019s orbital distance and back that was doomed by a propellant leak.<\/p>\n

The mission began auspiciously on the night of Jan. 7-8 with a seemingly successful liftoff from Florida on United Launch Alliance\u2019s first Vulcan Centaur rocket, powered by Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 rocket engines. But hours after launch, the Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic team detected a problem with the propulsion system. So much propellant was lost that the team had to rule out a moon landing.<\/p>\n

After days of troubleshooting, Astrobotic and NASA determined that the best course was to send the 8-foot-wide robotic spacecraft on a looping orbit that went out more than 240,000 miles from Earth \u2014 and then came back for a controlled atmospheric re-entry over a remote area of the South Pacific.<\/p>\n

Astrobotic said telemetry received during Peregrine\u2019s descent suggested that the spacecraft broke up during re-entry at 1:04 p.m. PT on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Today, Space-Track.org said the U.S. Space Command confirmed the spacecraft\u2019s decay. \u201cThat\u2019s certainly good to hear,\u201d Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told reporters during a news briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeregrine Mission One has concluded,\u201d Astrobotic said in a final mission update. \u201cWe look to the future and our next mission to the moon, Griffin Mission One. All of the hard-earned experience from the past 10 days in space, along with the preceding years of designing, building and testing Peregrine, will directly inform Griffin and our future missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

To mark the mission\u2019s end, Astrobotic posted videos that were captured moments after last week\u2019s spacecraft separation. <\/p>\n

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