Despite the failure of the United States’ first commercial lunar lander to launch in space, Astrobotic Technology continues to push forward with its next lunar mission and is still on schedule to launch before the end of the year.
The hardware build of the Astrobotic Griffin Mission One lander is currently on display at the private Pittsburgh-based firm and can be viewed at the adjacent Moonshot Museum. The upcoming lunar lander, known as Griffin, is the largest lunar lander since the Apollo lunar module.
There’s no doubt about it: Griffin’s upcoming flight isn’t just a big one for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, under which American companies contract to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface; It also signals an important bridge to NASA’s Artemis Program for human exploration of the Moon.
Relating to: Astrobotic ‘excited for next adventure’ as crippled Moon lander Peregrine vehicle burns up in Earth’s atmosphere
moon machines
The Griffin spacecraft will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and will carry the first-of-its-kind Artemis lunar rover and the Volatile Materials Exploration Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER.
VIPER is intended to return on a 100-day mission to Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain adjacent to the western rim of Nobile Crater, and land near the moon’s south pole.
The robotic rover is viewed by NASA as an important tool for gathering critical information about the origin and distribution of water ice on the moon. By doing so, VIPER can help gauge the clarity of the vision for harvesting lunar resources to sustain human exploration in Earth’s celestial neighbor.
Rough, rocky road
But for Astrobotic, the road to the moon was a bumpy and rocky one. Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said the loss of the nearly $100 million Peregrine Mission One lunar lander mission was full of ups and downs.
“It’s very difficult to start these missions,” Thornton told Space.com. “We’re doing this at a fraction of what it would normally cost to accomplish these missions. The challenge is to fly these within the budget we’re trying to do here. And if we’re successful at that, that means you can fly again and again.”
The company’s Peregrine lunar lander ran into trouble shortly after liftoff on Jan. 8, when it was sent toward the moon by the first liftoff of United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Thornton said flying at the top of the Vulcan thruster’s first flight was exciting, but they did it. But within a few hours, Peregrine was in trouble.
peregrine traps
Shortly after launch, Peregrine experienced a thrust problem, short-circuiting its multi-engine drive before making a four-legged soft landing in the Gruithuisen Domes region of the moon.
“It initially failed, and we did 10 days of operations afterward. So we have tons of data to hone in on what specifically happened. There’s still uncertainty as to what that failure was,” Thornton said, whether it was a material failure, whether it was a material failure, a buildup of foreign material in the valve, Maybe it’s a design issue. “There are parts of this that you’ll never know,” he said.
Flight control teams collected a wealth of data and feedback on other spacecraft systems, especially those custom-built by Astrobotic. “Fortunately, we did not lose contact. That would be the worst-case scenario from remediating the situation.”
The failure review board is currently investigating Peregrine traps “to make the spacecraft better in the future,” Thornton said.
In the final days of the trouble-plagued mission, it was decided to direct the Peregrine First Mission to make a devastating, controlled reentry into South Pacific ocean waters on January 18. Peregrine transported a total of 20 cargoes from seven countries and 16 commercial customers.
serious progress
Related Stories:
— ULA’s Vulcan rocket launches first U.S. lunar lander since Apollo, and human remains on first flight
— Who is Astrobotic Technology and what does it do?
— NASA’s ice chaser VIPER lunar rover prepares to slide toward the launch pad
Despite the loss of Peregrine, Thornton remains optimistic about NASA’s CLPS model for doing lunar work.
“I think this is achievable and I believe we are on the cusp of it as an industry,” Thornton said. “We are making serious progress.”
Considering the February 22 soft landing of the Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft on the moon in the lunar south pole region, what will Thornton’s approach be?
“Of course, it is difficult for a competitor to come much closer to complete success than we do,” replied Thornton.
“From an industry perspective, this is a big deal. Given a little more time, the model will probably work,” Thornton added. “To me, this is the biggest win we can get… if the industry is successful, ultimately Astrobotic will be successful.”
Astrobotic has released a final update for Peregrine Mission One on the company’s website:
“Peregrine flew so Griffin could land. ad luna per aspera,” the statement concludes, referencing Star Trek’s motto, “Through adversity to the stars.”