First US mission to the Moon in decades fails and spacecraft burns

After flying hundreds of thousands of kilometers through space and battling a problem with its thruster that thwarted mission plans, the Peregrine lunar module met its end when it burned up in Earth's atmosphere on Thursday (18).

The spacecraft concluded its truncated 10-day journey on Thursday afternoon when it crashed into Earth's thick atmosphere over a remote area of ​​the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia.

Astrobotic Technology, a Pittsburgh-based company that developed the Peregrine lander under a contract with NASA, confirmed the spacecraft's disappearance, having lost contact with the vehicle moments before its planned re-entry time, which “indicates that the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over the South Pacific.”

“We await independent confirmation from government entities,” the company said in a post.

On Friday (19), a press conference with NASA clarified: “After a successful launch and rocket separation on January 8, the spacecraft faced a propulsion problem that prevented Peregrine from landing smoothly on the Moon. ”

“After analysis and recommendations from NASA and the space community, Astrobotic determined that the best option to minimize risk and ensure responsible disposal of the spacecraft would be to maintain Peregrine's trajectory toward Earth, where it burned up upon reentry,” he added.

The failed mission is a setback for Astrobotic and NASA, whose goal is to create a stable set of relatively inexpensive, commercially developed lunar modules capable of completing robotic missions to the Moon as the space agency works toward a crewed lunar landing later this year. decade.

Setbacks after launch

The Peregrine lander was launched on January 8 atop a Vulcan Centaur rocket, a new vehicle developed by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

The launch went smoothly, safely delivering the Peregrine probe to Earth's orbit toward the Moon.

If the spacecraft had managed to reach the lunar surface, it would have been the first US mission to land softly on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

But after hours of solo flight, the Peregrine probe encountered critical setbacks. Astrobotic confirmed that the spacecraft suffered a serious problem with its onboard propulsion systems and was leaking fuel, leaving the probe without enough fuel to make a soft landing on the moon.

There was a change of course, and the company directed the spacecraft to operate more like a satellite, testing its scientific instruments and other systems as it flew thousands of kilometers through the void.

Ultimately, Astrobotic determined that it would dispose of the vehicle, crashing it into the Earth's atmosphere at high speed so that the spacecraft would burn.

What does Peregrine's failure mean

The loss of the Peregrine probe is a blow to Astrobotic and NASA.

An agreement signed between the two organizations made this mission possible, with NASA providing more than US$108 million (more than R$500 million) to help Astrobotic in the development effort to fly five payloads to the Moon.

That price represents an increase of about 36% over the original contract value, as the deal was renegotiated amid supply chain issues related to the pandemic, according to Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at the board of directors. of NASA scientific missions.

The US space agency does not consider the Peregrine spacecraft its only option for conducting robotic research on the Moon. NASA also has partnerships with three other companies developing robotic lunar probes – including Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which could launch its own first mission in mid-February.

Through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, NASA has designed these lunar landing contracts as “fixed-price” agreements, meaning the space agency hands over a fixed amount of money rather than continuing to pay a company throughout the entire landing process. development as setbacks arise.

“This is one of many relatively inexpensive missions that will be sent to the surface of the Moon to try to break the mold and try to come up with a new price point,” Thornton told CNN earlier this month.

The deal is also structured so that the companies retain full ownership of their own vehicles, and NASA becomes just one of many customers carrying cargo on the landers.

Tests for commercial lunar probes

A private lunar lander has never reached the lunar surface safely — although other companies have tried.

In 2019, a spacecraft built by the Israel-based company SpaceIL crashed into the Moon during a landing attempt. And again in 2023, the Japan-based company Ispace lost control of its lander while heading for the surface of the Moon.

SpaceIL, Ispace and Astrobotic have roots in the same competition: the Google Lunar X Prize, which between 2007 and 2018 offered the company that managed to reach the Moon a grand prize of 20 million dollars. But the X Prize ended without a winner, as neither team made it by the deadline.

It remains to be seen whether a commercially developed lunar lander can reach the lunar surface — and perhaps an even more intriguing question is whether lunar missions offer a financially sustainable business model for these companies.

In addition to money from NASA and other government space agencies, Astrobotic's revenue for the Peregrine mission was generated by partnerships that included space funeral companies sending human remains to the moon, as well as any trinkets, plaques, bitcoins or other commemorative objects for customers.

Astrobotic's Thornton admitted to reporters that the Peregrine mission cost his company more money than it made. However, a failure does not mean the end of Astrobotic, he said in statements to CNN .

“It will certainly have some impact on our relationships and our ability to secure additional missions in the future,” Thornton said Jan. 2. “It certainly won’t be the end of the business, but it will be a challenge.”

“We’re in a high-risk space venture and that’s just the nature of space business,” he said.

Astrobotic already has a contract to carry out another robotic lunar landing mission for NASA later this year. Called Griffin, this landing module – a larger model than the Peregrine – will aim to place a rover near the Moon's south pole.