Miami, US, Jan 9 (EFE).- The Peregrine mission to land a spacecraft on the moon after the first US lunar lander in five decades suffered propellant loss from a fuel leak.
Astrobotic Technology, the company that launched the spacecraft on Monday, said the moon mission had only 40 hours of fuel left, causing a change of goal from reaching the lunar surface to getting as close as possible to the satellite.
«At this time, the goal is to get Peregrine as close to lunar distance as we can before it loses the ability to maintain its sun-pointing position and subsequently loses power,» Astrobotic said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Peregrine module, successfully launched on the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, was supposed to land on the moon’s far side on Feb. 23.
A few hours into the launch, the spacecraft deviated from its orientation.
Though engineers managed to reorient its panels toward the sun, the failure within the propulsion system caused a «critical» fuel loss, Astrobotic said.
«If the thrusters can continue to operate, we believe the spacecraft could continue in a stable state for approximately 40 more hours based on current fuel consumption,» the Pennsylvania-based company said.
Peregrine lander carries NASA’s scientific instruments to locate water molecules on the moon, measure radiation and gases around the lander, and evaluate the lunar exosphere, a thin layer of gases on the moon’s surface.
“Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow,» said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
“We will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science, exploration, and commercial development of the moon.»
Peregrine was expected to be the first American module to reach the lunar surface in over 50 years.
In addition to NASA, the lander carried instruments from seven countries, including a Mexican mission with tiny robots to study the lunar surface. EFE
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