The Peregrine lunar lander is gathering data while it has another 48 hours left...
source link: https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24035242/astrobotic-peregrine-lunar-lander-nasa-data-payloads
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
The Peregrine lunar lander didn’t land, but it’s still collecting data
/The spacecraft has about 48 hours of propellant remaining.
By Amrita Khalid, one of the authors of audio industry newsletter Hot Pod. Khalid has covered tech, surveillance policy, consumer gadgets, and online communities for more than a decade.
Share this story
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25220566/Screen_Shot_2024_01_11_at_4.05.51_PM.png)
Astrobotic’s ill-fated Peregrine moon lander may soon be tumbling through space, but in the meantime, it’s collecting data for science. In an update on Thursday, NASA disclosed that payloads aboard the lander successfully collecting data. Astrobotic shared a similar update on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in the day.
NASA says the plan is to extend Peregrine’s mission for as long as possible in order to continue data collection efforts. “Measurements and operations of the NASA-provided science instruments on board will provide valuable experience, technical knowledge, and scientific data to future CLPS lunar deliveries,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in a statement included in NASA’s announcement.
In a joint mission with NASA, Astrobotic, a private space company based in Pittsburgh, launched Peregrine Mission One in the early hours of January 8th. The plan was to make the first US lunar landing in more than 50 years — with the ultimate goal of reaching the moon’s surface in late February. But a leak in Peregrine’s propulsion system was detected shortly after launch, and the company announced on Tuesday there wasn’t enough propellant left — only a couple of day’s worth — to make a soft landing.
Peregrine is still operationally stable as of Thursday evening. In an update posted at 4:01PM PT on Thursday, Astrobotic reported that Peregrine has an estimated 48 hours of fuel remaining — much more than what was anticipated in its earlier reports — because the rate of the leak has slowed as time has progressed.
Peregrine is also carrying Iris Lunar Rover, a tiny rover built by Carnegie Mellon University students that was supposed to take photos on the moon. A photo of Iris’s wheels and a fuel tank with the American flag was also posted today by Astrobotic on X. Iris also sent a message to Earth: “Hello, Earth!”
Recommend
-
32
Interplanetary Postal Service This game is my entry...
-
10
SpaceElon Musk’s SpaceX wins contract to develop spacecraft to land astronauts on the moonThe company beat out Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Dynetics...
-
6
NASA chief reminds Congress they’re the ones not funding a lunar lander "You can only get so many pounds of potatoes out of a five-pound sack."
-
11
SpaceX's Starship HLS Lunar Lander Isn't Enough For NASA
-
6
Astrobotic unveils private robotic lunar lander it aims to launch to the Moon this year Meet the Peregrine lander By...
-
6
Copy Dialog Lunar Lander Here is one of the most pressing issues of our times: You need to download a huge file from the other side of the world to continue your work. You literally can't do anything but wait.
-
3
ispace’s HAKUTO-R lander, which was launched last December, attempted to land on the Moon today, April 25. The mission was looking likely to be the first commercial company to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon, but late in the landing pha...
-
12
Image: Blue Origin ...
-
7
Big day for blue — Once again, NASA leans into the future by picking an innovative lunar lander “It’s an incredible moment in spaceflight history."
-
9
Nasa Peregrine 1: US lander will not make it to moon’s surface due to fuel leakAstrobotic, its creators, say the goal is to get spacecraft as far as possible before it loses power...
About Joyk
Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK