E-Paper
Peregrine Mission one: 'Anomaly' detected on US lunar lander heading for moon
The lunar lander was carrying remains of several Star Trek cast members and DNA of former US president John F. Kennedy along with scientific instruments.
Private lunar lander- Peregrine Mission-1- which launched from the US suffered an "anomaly" which experts are trying to resolve. The mission which took off earlier today is aimed to become the first US spacecraft due to land on the moon's surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
What has the company said on the incident?
It appeared to lift off into space as planned but American company Astrobotic- which is controlling the launch- said an “anomaly” occurred as “after successfully separating from United Launce Alliance's Vulcan rocket, Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander began receiving telemetry via the NASA Deep Space Network. Astrobotic-built avionics systems, including the primary command and data handling unit, as well as the thermal, propulsion, and power controllers, all powered on and performed as expected.”
“After successful propulsion systems activation, Peregrine entered a safe operational state. Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation. The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as more data is obtained and analysed,” it said in a statement.
Read more: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on Indira Gandhi: 'She was great. I am not’
What was the lunar lander carrying?
'The lunar lander was carrying remains of several Star Trek cast members and DNA of former US president John F. Kennedy along with scientific instruments.
What the lunar lander means for US and NASA?
The last time US launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972 when Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon. Although NASA's new Artemis program, which is named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years, the space agency has said.
