Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic on Saturday said its lunar lander is likely to come back toward Earth and is expected to burn up in the atmosphere.
The North Side space company on Monday saw its Peregrine lunar lander launch into space with lofty goals for a soft landing on the moon. Problems quickly arose, however, when the company identified a “critical” malfunction in Peregrine’s propulsion system, leading to a fuel loss.
Astrobotic said a soft landing on the moon is no longer possible for this mission.
Astrobotic’s Mission Control Center has been tracking the lander’s trajectory over the last week, the company said in a statement Saturday.
“Our analysis efforts have been challenging due to the propellant leak, which have been adding uncertainty to predictions of the vehicle’s trajectory,” the company wrote. “Our latest assessment now shows the spacecraft is on a path towards Earth, where it will likely burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.”
The Astrobotic team is “currently assessing options,” the company said, and will provide additional updates when possible.
The company on Saturday also said the propellant leak “has slowed considerably to a point where it is no longer the teams’ top priority.”
The lunar lander has been operating in space for over five days and is about 242,000 miles from Earth.
Only about half of all lunar missions have been successful, according to NASA.
Astrobotic has said the mission isn’t a complete failure, as mission control is using Peregrine’s existing power to “perform as many payload and spacecraft operations as possible.”
Peregrine is carrying several payloads from Carnegie Mellon University, NASA and other entities. Astrobotic said all 10 payloads are transferring valuable data back to Earth.
Related:
• After a rough week, Astrobotic finds silver lining in Peregrine mission• Failing to reach the moon isn't a total failure for Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic
• Faulty valve, ruptured tank thwart 'soft landing' on moon for Astrobotic's Peregrine
