Destitute ‘Peregrine’ lunar mission ends over Pacific Ocean

01/19/2024

The Peregrine spacecraft, a private mission of the Astrobotic Company and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will go to the Moon to conduct various experiments and which included strange payloads such as the remains of former President George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, It disintegrated upon safely re-entering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on January 19, after it developed a fuel leak in its propulsion system in space.

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The decision was taken by the scientific team in charge of the mission, which monitored Peregrine from Earth, which was launched on January 8 from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA).

“The spacecraft should be allowed to burn up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere,” he said in a statement to Astrobotic. The company positioned the ship for a safe and controlled reentry in a remote area of ​​the South Pacific, north of New Zealand, to avoid damage if any remains of the ship reached the Earth’s surface.

The Peregrine ship took a photo (main photo in notes) that matches Upon the ship’s return to Earth, Seen in the background, and taken on January 18, the day before re-entry into the atmosphere.

Peregrine was the only private American mission ever to reach a satellite and the first United States mission to reach the Moon since the Apollo program five decades earlier.

Peregrine’s result

As planned, Astrobotic lost telemetry with the Peregrine spacecraft on January 18. Although this indicated that the vehicle had completed its controlled re-entry over open waters in the South Pacific, the company was awaiting official independent confirmation.

In this regard, a video of the spacecraft re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere over Australia on Friday morning has surfaced. Showed how it fired its thrusters while descending.

Quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Australian Space Agency said in a statement that it had conducted an investigation “to assess the risk to Australia” and “to ensure that re-entry was managed safely”. Monitored re-entry with its international partners. effectively, without danger to persons or property.”