January 9, 2024 The Peregrine Mission One, the first US-built lunar lander since the Apollo era, is facing a critical situation as it started leaking fuel hours after its launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Developed by Astrobotic, the lunar lander experienced a failure in its propulsion system, leading to a significant loss of propellant. The company expressed concern about the potential jeopardy to the Moon landing mission due to the ongoing fuel leak.
In an update, Astrobotic revealed the first image from Peregrine in space, showing disturbances in the Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI), indicating anomalies in the propulsion system. The team is leveraging the lander’s existing power to conduct as many payload and spacecraft operations as possible, considering the risk to the mission.
Peregrine Mission One, weighing nearly 2,900 pounds, is an unmanned lander carrying payloads from seven countries and 16 companies. The mission is a historic attempt as the first lunar lander built in the US since the Apollo Lunar Module. It carries payloads from Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Hungary, the Seychelles, and the DHL MoonBox, containing mementos and messages from over 100,000 individuals worldwide.
The lander successfully separated in space after launching on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket, but the anomaly in the propulsion system prevented it from pointing towards the Sun. This situation led to battery depletion, requiring an improvised maneuver to orient the solar panels toward the Sun. While this improvised solution worked, the ongoing fuel leak poses a significant challenge, and the team is actively working to stabilize the situation.
The fate of the Peregrine Mission One and its groundbreaking lunar exploration hangs in the balance as engineers strive to address the fuel leak and salvage the mission.
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