Astrobotic’s ambitious mission to achieve the first private soft moon landing was derailed by a propellant leak shortly after its Peregrine moon lander deployed. The company has now homed in on a potential cause for the failure.
The incident occurred after Peregrine launched atop United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket earlier this week. Astrobotic suspects that a valve failure between the helium pressurant and the oxidizer during initialization might have led to the ruptured oxidizer tank. Despite ongoing troubleshooting and analysis, the root cause and implications of this issue are still being investigated.
Fox News correspondent Jonathan Serrie reported that the “anomaly” affecting the lunar lander has led Astrobotic’s engineers to work diligently to resolve the critical loss of propellant. The solar batteries on the Peregrine lunar lander are currently at full charge, but the spacecraft carrying the lander is expected to run out of fuel in approximately 40 hours, leaving little time for intervention.
The failure of the mission, marking the first U.S. moon landing attempt in over 50 years, has dashed hopes of a successful soft landing on the moon. Astrobotic’s efforts to identify and address the technical issues faced by the Peregrine moon lander are ongoing, with the company intensively probing the root cause to prevent future setbacks in lunar exploration missions.
Former astronaut Mike Massimino further discussed the launch and subsequent challenges faced by Astrobotic’s mission. It’s critical to monitor the company’s progress as they work to both salvage the current endeavor and ensure that upcoming lunar exploration missions are better equipped to handle potential valve and propellant issues.
