Why is The Pittsburgh-Developed Moon Lander Endangered?

An issue with the Peregrine’s propulsion system has caused Astrobotic to reevaluate its objective in its attempts to reach the moon.

Despite a successful launch early Monday from Cape Canaveral, the Pittsburgh-built Peregrine Lunar Lander appeared doomed late Monday in its goal to reach the moon.

It would have been the first time in 50 years that a vessel from the United States would have landed on the moon’s surface.

The Peregrine lander, built by the North Side company Astrobotic Technology and launched aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket, reported a failure in its propulsion system about six hours after separating from the Vulcan. This was preventing it from turning to face the solar array toward the sun to fuel its battery. While workers on the ground eventually were able to reorient the Peregrine to start recharging its battery, another problem arose: the team discovered a “critical loss of propellant.” 

The Astrobotic team is now “assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time,” according to its post on social media.

This was the first launch for the company, which was awarded nearly $80 million from NASA to deliver scientific payloads to the moon. Astrobotic had been working toward that goal for 16 years.

NASA included five payloads of technology onboard the Peregrine aimed at gathering data about the lunar environment. Other payloads contained capsules of human remains intended for burial on the moon and other items. Given the current circumstances, Astrobotic has “prioritized maximizing the science and data [they] can capture.” 

According to the Post-Gazette, NASA will have another chance at a moon landing in February with the launch of a similar lunar lander made by Intuitive Machines in Houston. Astrobotic will be back in the game later this year, with the expected launch of its Griffin lander, which is carrying NASA’s water-detecting VIPER rover.