Just seven days after takeoff, the Peregrine spacecraft, which took off with the aim of reaching the lunar surface, has finally decided to end its mission. In this way, Astrobotic has confirmed that the ship will soon return to the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will end up burning.
Due to the loss of fuel that has prevented Peregrine from reaching its destination, NASA had recommended “letting the spacecraft burn during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.” As it is a private mission, the final decision on Peregrine’s final flight path has been made by Astrobotic.
“Ultimately, we must balance our own desire to prolong Peregrine’s life, operate payloads, and learn more about the spacecraft, with the risk that our damaged spacecraft could cause a problem in cislunar space,” the company explains. it’s a statement.
Atrobotic has called the decision to maintain the current trajectory of the spacecraft to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere “difficult.” Even so, they assure that they have responsibly decided to end the Peregrine mission, “we are doing our part to preserve the future of cislunar space for everyone.”
Despite the propulsion system issue, the mission team was able to stabilize the vehicle, power on all active payloads, and enable payload data collection. The spacecraft has been operating in space for 6 days and 16 hours, and Peregrine continues to lose propellant.
Although Astrobotic believes the spacecraft may operate for several more weeks and could have raised the orbit to avoid touching Earth, “the anomalous state of the propulsion system must be taken into account and the capability on board the vehicle must be used to complete the mission.” mission responsibly and safely.
Peregrine, which will soon return to Earth’s atmosphere, was about 376,000 kilometers away on January 14. “We are working with NASA to continue updating and evaluating Peregrine’s controlled re-entry route. We do not believe Peregrine’s re-entry will pose safety risks and the spacecraft will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere,” the statement added.
For its part, NASA decided to delay the Artemis II manned mission, which must fly over the Moon, to 2025, and the Artemis III mission, which will send astronauts to the Moon, to September 2026. Until now, the last American operation on the lunar surface was the Apollo 17 mission, in December 1972.
