\n<\/p>\n
The launch of the Peregrine lunar lander aboard a Vulcan rocket on 8 January<\/p>\n
APFootage \/ Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
The Peregrine lander\u2019s mission is over. The US company that built the thwarted lunar lander, Astrobotic, has brought the spacecraft home to burn up in Earth\u2019s atmosphere after a fuel leak kept it from completing its journey to the moon.<\/p>\n
Just 7 hours after its 8 January launch atop a Vulcan rocket, engineers noticed that Peregrine wasn\u2019t pointing in the right direction, so its solar panels weren\u2019t charging the batteries that ran its electronics. Shortly after that, it became clear that fuel was leaking from the craft. Eventually, it was found that an oxidiser tank had ruptured, perhaps because of a stuck valve, and the leak was generating a small amount of thrust that changed the probe\u2019s orientation. By the time it was all figured out, Peregrine had already lost too much fuel to make it to the moon, let alone perform the manoeuvres necessary for a gentle landing on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Astrobotic\u2019s engineers were able to correct Peregrine\u2019s orientation, so once its solar panels were pointed in the right direction, its batteries charged up. This allowed Peregrine\u2019s operators to briefly test-fire the main engine and turn on its on-board rover, which can help them better understand the operations of the craft in space and help determine what went wrong. They also remotely switched on some of its scientific instruments and made measurements of radiation in interplanetary space that could provide useful scientific insights. Operating the craft for a few days also gave Astrobotic time to decide whether to try to divert from the planned moon landing and extend the mission in open space or to let it continue on its path back towards Earth.<\/p>\n Peregrine could have potentially survived for a bit longer in orbit around Earth, but leaving it there carried some risks. Eventually, the spacecraft would have run out of fuel entirely, which would have left it as essentially a cannonball hurtling uncontrollably around the planet. This kind of space junk can badly damage active satellites. A statement from Astrobotic read: \u201cUltimately, we must balance our own desire to extend Peregrine\u2019s life, operate payloads, and learn more about the spacecraft, with the risk that our damaged spacecraft could cause a problem\u201d.<\/p>\n It is actually much safer to steer the spacecraft back to Earth \u2013 satellites are de-orbited like this regularly, and they generally burn up from the incredible heat they experience as they plummet through the atmosphere. Peregrine was also carefully aimed towards the Pacific Ocean, just east of Australia, to minimise any risk of surviving fragments hitting populated areas.<\/p>\n Aside from its scientific instruments, the spacecraft also carried two controversial payloads sent to space by a company called Celestis, which provides what it called \u201cmemorial spaceflights\u201d. These two canisters held cremated human remains, including those of Star Trek<\/em> creator Gene Roddenberry and actors James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols. Whether or not the capsules survived the trip through Earth\u2019s atmosphere to fall into the ocean is unclear.<\/p>\n It is true that this is the third mission over the last year to fail to make it to the moon, but that is only partially because of the difficulty of sending probes into space and making them land softly hundreds of thousands of kilometres away. Attempts to land on the moon are also drastically increasing in number, and many are using new and untested equipment and protocols. It is natural for there to be some growing pains, but there are more planned lunar landings coming up, and Astrobotic executives are already talking about their plans to try again.<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\nWhy did they have to bring it back to Earth instead of just leaving it in space?<\/h2>\n
Isn\u2019t bringing it back to Earth dangerous too?<\/h2>\n
What about the other things that Peregrine was carrying?<\/h2>\n
Why do missions to the moon keeping going badly?<\/h2>\n