The Peregrine 1 Mission, the first private American space mission aimed at reaching the Moon in fifty years, is facing a setback as it will not successfully land on the lunar surface. Launched this Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the mission encountered a significant battery issue, leaving it with only 40 hours of fuel.
This makes it impossible for the module to land on the lunar surface on February 23, as planned. This was announced by the Astrobotic company, the first to report the problems that Peregrine 1 detected with its battery:
Update #6 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/lXh9kcubXs
— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 9, 2024
Problems with the Peregrine module
Astrobotics' Peregrine module reported some technical problems after separating from the Vulcan Centaur rocket. In an update the company offered about ten hours after the mission's successful liftoff, a critical fuel loss was reported:
Update #4 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/6uISAG3Je1
— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 8, 2024
First, a problem with the thruster system and a loss of connection between the operators on Earth and the module in space flight was reported. When the signal was recovered, this significant fuel loss became known. The company assured that the problems are serious and that it will be necessary to study what the new priorities of the mission are, taking into account the new limited capabilities of the module.
Hours later, the company showed the first photograph that the module sent to Earth and announced again that they were investigating whether the Peregrine 1 Mission could continue its journey to the Moon. A journey that, the company announced in a latest update, could not finally be carried out.
