Peregrine lander: Control loss by early Friday is likely
The Pittsburgh-based company at the forefront of the first commercial trip to the moon said Wednesday night it could lose control of its troubled craft in space sometime early Friday, long before it could reach its planned destination.
The North Shore-based company, Astrobotic, posted at 7 p.m. Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, that it has about 36 hours of propellant remaining. Based on that projection, it likely would lose control of the craft about 7 a.m. Friday.
But Astrobotic has been able to extend the length of the time it has control of the lander since it posted a notice at 11 a.m. Wednesday that it only had enough propellant for another 35 hours of operation.
Astrobotic had hoped to land the Peregrine craft on the moon, but an apparent malfunction in the lander’s propulsion equipment resulted in a fuel leak that doomed the trip.
Even though it continued to leak propellant Wednesday, Astrobotic said that the lander remains stable, fully charged and is transmitting data from about 200,000 miles from earth.
Astrobotic said it is about 84% of the way to the moon.
Peregrine was reported to be in a phased loop around the Earth on Wednesday morning. The unmanned vehicle was to swing back around the Earth, then cruise out to meet the moon and land 15 days from its launch on Monday.
In an initial analysis of the problem, Astrobotic said a faulty valve caused a rush of high-pressure helium, which ruptured a tank on the lander. Astrobotic said Tuesday that explanation was a working hypothesis, and a full report will come later.
John Thornton, president of Astrobotic, didn’t respond to messages Wednesday.
Peregrine was supposed to deliver payloads to the moon from private entities, including Carnegie Mellon University and NASA, which awarded Astrobotic a $79.5 million contract.
A team of CMU students and staff designed and developed a small rover, named Iris, that was attached to the Peregine. That lightweight vehicle was to travel on the moon.
William “Red” Whittaker, a faculty emeritus in the Robotics Institute who worked with the CMU team on the Peregrine, said he was told not to comment publicly Wednesday. Whittaker is a co-founder of Astrobotic.
Astrobotic said it plans to launch another lunar lander this year.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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