A failed mission to the Moon carrying human remains will crash into Earth’s atmosphere today

The Peregrine saga is coming to a tragic end, with the lunar lander re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after failing to land on the Moon.

After a 10-day journey through space, Astrobotic launched its lunar lander on a trajectory toward Earth for a controlled re-entry into a remote area of ​​the South Pacific around 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 18. Have deployed. wrote In an update.

pilgrimage Released on 8 January Aboard United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket with plans to land on the Moon in late February. However, the spacecraft experienced a propulsion anomaly that destroyed any possibility of a soft landing on the Moon. The lander began losing propellant at a rapid rate. , which may happen caused by faulty valve,

Carries 2,829 pounds (1,283 kg) of spacecraft 24 different payloads From the three national space agencies, 11 payloads from NASA alone, as well as several other payloads from private companies. Payloads that were to be deployed to space and the Moon Cremated remains and DNA of approximately 200 individuals, Fortunately, the companies responsible for extraterrestrial memorial services pack a symbolic portion of people’s remains, just in case something goes wrong.

Although the spacecraft is still operational, Astrobotic has decided to sell Peregrine In a responsible manner, rather than exacerbating the already serious problem of space debris. “The team is continuously monitoring our re-entry analysis with NASA, which indicates a re-entry path over the area described below with no anticipated hazards,” Astrobotic wrote in its statement. “Safe re-entry is our top priority.”

There is a possibility that Peregrine will burn up in the atmosphere during re-entry, but it is not impossible that some debris reaches the surface. Participating NASA will organize a Press conference on Friday, January 19, during which we hope to learn more about the doomed mission, the re-entry process and how it all happened.

To set the spacecraft on a trajectory toward Earth, the company performed a two-stage maneuver. The initial phase involved a burnout of the main engine, but due to a discrepancy with Peregrine, the team was unable to operate the engine as usual. A series of 23 small engine burns fire to change the spacecraft’s trajectory. The team later used the spacecraft’s propellant leak to their advantage, adjusting Peregrine’s attitude, or orientation, so that the force induced by the propellant leak changed its position toward the South Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean often serves as a spacecraft graveyard, where space agencies dump their decommissioned missions in remote waters to avoid falling into habitable zones. Area.

Peregrine is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which aims to help the space agency seek its return. Humans go to the Moon and make it a permanent location for long-term human presence. It was also intended to usher in a new era for private companies by giving them greater access to the lunar surface, Astrobotic hoped to become the first private company to land on the Moon. However, space is a complex business and the race is still on for private companies to land on the dusty surface of the Moon.

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