Doomed $108million NASA-backed Peregrine One lander is now hurtling towards Earth after failing to land on the moon

By William On Jan 15, 2024

It was intended to be the first American object on the moon since the Apollo program of the 1970s.

But the NASA-backed Peregrine One lander missed its target due to a propellant leak and is now hurtling back to Earth, experts reveal.

Peregrine One is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, but as with any space object, there is a chance that leftover debris will fall back to Earth.

Peregrine One would serve as a scout for NASA’s Artemis astronauts before they land on the moon in 2026.

If it had reached the lunar surface, it would have deployed scientific hardware to help answer questions about the composition of the lunar surface and lunar radiation.

Space selfie: The Peregrine lander was supposed to serve as a scout for Artemis astronauts. This image, released by Astrobotic on January 8, 2024, shows the first photo of the lander in space with insulation in the foreground

Not so: This illustration from Astrobotic Technology shows the Peregrine Falcon lunar lander on the moon’s surface

The private company that developed the machine, Astrobotic, posted on X: ‘Our latest assessment now shows that the spacecraft is headed towards Earth, where it will likely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

‘The team is currently assessing the options and we will update as soon as we can.’

According to Astrobotic’s last update on January 14, the Peregrine One lander is about 230,000 miles (374,000 kilometers) from Earth, but it’s getting closer.

Based on its current trajectory, Peregrine will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and likely burn up on Thursday, January 18.

Astrobotic allayed public concerns that any remaining fragments of the lander would hit populated parts of the planet.

“We are working with NASA to continue updating and evaluating Peregrine’s controlled reentry path,” the company said in the update.

“We do not believe that the return of Peregrine poses any safety risks.

“We are validating this through analysis in collaboration with the U.S. government (and will) continue to operate the spacecraft and provide status updates until the end of the mission.”

Under a $108 million contract with NASA, the 1.2-ton lander is carrying 20 payloads, including scientific instruments and DNA samples from US presidents John F Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Washington.

The brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur, will lift off from Space Launch Complex 41d at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 8, 2024, for its maiden voyage, carrying the Peregrine Lunar Lander from Astrobotic

The lander also contains the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, in addition to the ashes of approximately 60 other individuals that were to be dropped on the moon’s surface.

These valuable items will likely be lost when the lander burns up in Earth’s atmosphere; MailOnline has contacted Astrobotic for comment.

It’s been a week since the Peregrine One lander took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a brand new Vulcan rocket.

Vulcan lifted Peregrine to an altitude of about 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth, where the lander separated from the rocket about 50 minutes after launch and successfully powered on.

But shortly after separation, the spaceship experienced an onboard explosion, resulting in a critical loss of fuel.

This resulted in a problem with the drive system that made it no longer possible to point the solar panels at the sun, meaning the batteries could not be charged.

Although the solar arrays were eventually reoriented, the force of the leak was enough to push the lander into a spin, requiring even more fuel to keep it pointed toward the sun.

It quickly became clear to the experts that the lander would not land on the moon as planned due to the amount of propellant it lost.

Photo shows the Peregrine lunar lander at the company’s factory in Pittsburgh in October 2023. Peregrine suffered a serious fuel loss during its journey to the moon

Despite the failure, Astrobotic said it was able to boost the scientific experiments they conducted for NASA and other space agencies and collect spaceflight data.

The company will also get another chance in November with its Griffin lander carrying NASA’s Viper rover to the moon’s south pole.

As part of what is being described as ‘space race 2.0’, China and the US also have ambitions to land on the moon’s southernmost region later this decade.

Last year, India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander was the first to land on the moon’s south, known for its rich ice reserves.

China and the US will follow India’s success with their own attempts to land on the moon’s south pole

Along with India and Russia, China and the US are also part of the race to place spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.

While India has won the race to be the first, the other three countries are expected to become the second to do so later this decade

China’s Chang’e 7 robotic exploration mission, scheduled for 2026, has the moon’s south pole as its destination.

Meanwhile, NASA’s American Artemis program, not content with landing an unmanned robotic gadget on the moon’s south, wants to send humans instead.

The Artemis III mission, which will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon, was scheduled for 2025, but NASA said that has been postponed.

Russia’s attempt to be the first to land at the South Pole (Luna 25) failed just days before India took the record.

The Russian mission – a follow-up to 1976’s Luna 24 – failed when it went out of control and was destroyed.

Valery Yegorov, a former researcher with Russia’s space program now living in exile, said the crash would have serious consequences for Roscosmos’ future missions, with the next not scheduled until 2028 or “even later.”