NASA's first Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission has reached the Moon, but Astrobotic's Peregrine lander won't touch down on the surface as intended. The spacecraft suffered a propellant leak shortly after launch that dashed any hope of a landing. The craft has lasted longer than expected, but Astrobotic now reports it's got about a day of life left in it.
The company reported the "anomaly" immediately after Peregrine was released in orbit by the ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket, which aced its first flight. AStrobotic was able to bring all the spacecraft's systems online, but the craft stubbornly refused to rotate to point its solar panels in the right direction. Eventually, Astrobotic confirmed Peregrine was being nudged by escaping fuel.
The thrusters have been working overtime to keep the craft oriented—Astrobotic initially reported that the lander would be dead within a day, but the rate of leakage has slowed as pressure in the tanks decreased. This has allowed the team to extend Peregrine's life by several more days. Based on the most recent estimates from Astrobotic, the spacecraft should have just over 24 hours left as of this posting.
NASA and the company are working together to wring out every drop of science they possibly can before the probe runs out of fuel. Early on, Astrobotic was simply trying to get as close to the Moon as possible, and it succeeded there. Peregrine has traveled more than 225,000 miles, about 94% of the way to the Moon.
The lander's instruments were designed for use on the surface of the Moon, but they will be able to conduct some useful analysis from cislunar space. Four of the five instruments are online and collecting data that, if nothing else, will help characterize the performance of those instruments for the next time they fly. The probe also carries a laser reflector array that can only operate after landing.
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NASA is sounding a positive note, commending Astrobotic for its hard work and resilience. However, this must be a major disappointment behind the scenes. Peregrine was NASA's first CLPS mission, and it would have been the first US lunar landing since the end of the Apollo Program in 1972. Instead, it's just another failed mission like Luna-25 and Hakuto-R that reminds us going to the Moon isn't easy just because it's been done before.
This past week, NASA announced a new timeline for the Artemis lunar program. The Artemis II crewed lunar orbit has been pushed back to late summer 2025, and the Artemis III lunar landing is now slated for the following year. That does give NASA more time to fly more CLPS missions in the meantime.
