graphic: Astrobiotics
At dawn this morning, everything looked to be coming up aces for Astrobotic, the company that built the Peregrine lunar lander, the prime payload for the ULA Vulcan launch that happened shortly after 2:18 am EST this morning. After a picture-perfect launch on a brand-new that ULA CEO called a “bullseye,” the lander was in space and headed towards Earth’s closest neighbor in the heavens.
photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Safely in orbit, Peregrine was successfully placed on a lunar trajectory by Vulcan, communications from spacecraft to ground was quickly established and everyone involved was looking forward to a bright future for the first American lunar lander since Apollo 17 in 1972. Shortly afterwards, problems began for Peregrine, and at the time of this writing, it appears the primary mission may no longer be possible.
In an update on the X platform at 9:17 am, Astrobotic first let everyone know that something was amiss:
At 11:04am, the company issued a second update:
Roughly ninety minutes later, at 12:03 pm EST, a third Astrobotic post by gave a promising update:
Finally, at 1:03pm, a fourth Astrobiotic update brought disappointing news:
Disappointment At NASA And At Astrobotic
At the time of this writing, it appears that a lunar lander may well be off the table. That surely comes as a major disappointment to Astrobotic and to NASA, given that the space agency was looking forward to utilizing data from Peregrine for the Artemis program.
NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration (part of the Science Directorate of the agency) made this statement earlier, before Astrobotic fourth update: “Each success and setback are opportunities to grow. We will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science and commercial development. The agency also said that Administrator Bill Nelson will have a further statement later today. Talk of Titusville will update this story to include Administrator Nelson’s comments after they are made.