Key events
Ian Example
Here’s a little more from my colleague, science editor Ian Sample, about the scientific value of the mission:
If all goes well, Peregrine’s instruments will measure radiation levels, surface and subsurface water ice, the magnetic field and the extremely thin layer of gas called the exosphere. The readings are expected to help reduce risks and utilize the moon’s natural resources when humans return to its surface.
The mission will analyze the composition of the lunar exosphere and monitor how it changes over the eight or so Earth days the lander will operate. Researchers hope to see the effect of natural cycles, such as temperature fluctuations from 100C to -100C, and the lander’s own activities.
As a potential resource for future missions, water is a key molecule to find. The mission may reveal how water molecules are released from the surface during the day and recaptured at night, shedding light on the circulation of lunar water.
As mentioned, the mission will last the better part of two months. If launch is successful, it is planned to go through an Earth orbit period, then cruise to the moon, have a lunar orbit phase, and then descend and land in Sinus Viscositatis.
This translates to Bay of Stickiness, although it also sounds a bit like something your respiratory system might be diagnosed with. It is named after the lava formation there.
However, it is absolutely not a foregone conclusion that it will get there. John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic, the people who built the lander, told CNN last week, “It’s really like a 50-50 shot against some kind of approach — where it’s really more about the success of the operation , not any specific mission.”
Peregrine 1 is armed with a variety of scientific instruments on its way to the moon.
The lander is about 1.9 m tall and about 2.5 m in diameter and will carry some very fancy-sounding equipment, including the Laser Retro-Reflector Array (LRA), a Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS), the Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), a PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), and a Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS).
It was built by Astrobotic and sits atop a rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance, so Nasa was very much the commanding body here, rather than in charge of all parts of the mission as we were used to for much of the lifetime of American space ventures.
Peregrine aims to be the first commercial mission to achieve a soft lunar landing
Ian Example
My colleague, Science editor Ian Sample, stepped up our coverage of the mission this piece on Friday:
Even in the white-knuckle world of space exploration, the mission is considered risky. While Nasa instruments on board the robotic lander, it is a commercial operation. No private company has ever achieved a soft landing on the moon or any other celestial body.
“There’s a lot riding on it,” said John Thornton, the CEO of Astrobotic, the Pittsburgh firm leading the mission. “It’s a mixture of emotions. There’s excitement and thrill, but I’m also a little bit scared because there’s a lot at stake.”
Adding to the nerves is the fact that the Vulcan rocket Peregrine sits on has never flown before, even though its manufacturer, United Launch Alliance, has had a 100% mission success rate with its predecessor rockets.
Peregrine is the first mission to fly under Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, a new scheme in which the space agency pays private companies to deliver scientific equipment to the moon. Peregrine carries five Nasa payloads and 15 others. One, a shoebox-sized rover from Carnegie Mellon University, is set to become the first American robot to orbit the moon.
Read more here: Peregrine mission almost ready for attempt to put US landers back on the moon
Welcome…
Welcome to our live coverage of the launch of Peregrine 1. It’s the first time the US has tried to land on the moon in fifty years, and while it has some scientific instruments on board from Nasathis is a commercially operated flight and the first time a commercial company has attempted to put something there.
However, Peregrine 1 is not rushing to the moon – if it successfully launches today, it is expected to land on February 23 – but launch is one of the most dangerous and risky parts of any space mission. Scientists, and the business people behind the enterprise, will be anxious that years of work to design the lander do not go awry.
We’ll be following the launch here on this live blog, with liftoff scheduled for 07:18 GMT (2.18 EST / 18.18 AEDT), in just over an hour’s time.
