"Houston, We Have A Problem": First US Moon Lander Mission In 50 Years Suffers 'Critical' Fuel Loss
America's first commercial moon lander, and the first to launch from the Lower 48 in five decades, suffered a "critical" propellant loss from a fuel leak hours after United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan booster blasted the spacecraft into space early Monday morning.
"An ongoing propellant leak is causing the spacecraft's Attitude Control System (ACS) thrusters to operate well beyond their expected service life cycles to keep the lander from an uncontrollable tumble," Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology wrote in a statement about its Peregrine robotic lunar lander.
Astrobotic continued: "If the thrusters can continue to operate, we believe the spacecraft could continue in a stable sun-pointing state for approximately 40 more hours, based on current fuel consumption."
"At this time, the goal is to get Peregrine as close to lunar distance as we can before it loses the ability to maintain its sun-pointing position and subsequently loses power," Astrobotic added.
Update #6 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/lXh9kcubXs
— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 9, 2024
After launching from Florida at 0218 ET Monday aboard the Vulcan booster, the Peregrine lander separated from the rocket about an hour later and "entered a safe operational state." Hours after separation, the propulsion system issue occurred.
The first U.S. commercial robotic launch to the Moon successfully lifted off Jan. 8 on the first flight of @ULALaunch’s #VulcanRocket. @Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission 1 lander is expected to reach the lunar surface in February: https://t.co/csvx73ZqgP pic.twitter.com/N7Mxiqi8GC
— NASA (@NASA) January 8, 2024
The failure of the propulsion system means the moon landing, initially scheduled for February 23, is no longer possible.
Astrobotic posted an image of Peregrine in space on social media platform X.
(1/4) We’ve received the first image from Peregrine in space! The camera utilized is mounted atop a payload deck and shows Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) in the foreground. pic.twitter.com/dUuu0Idz8K
— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 8, 2024
X users pointed out that parts of the spacecraft's outer skeleton appear 'crinkled.'
Did someone take a baseball bat to that a thing?
— DJ 🇺🇸 || 👊🏿🏳️🌈🇺🇦 🇮🇱|| #exGOP (@XDXJ) January 8, 2024
Crinkled metal on spacecraft, oh my!! Houston, we have a problem.
— Ole Danielson (@oledanielson) January 8, 2024
Astrobotic developed Peregrine under a $108 million contract with NASA.