The first US lunar lander in more than 50 years rocketed toward the moon on Monday, launching private companies on a space race to make deliveries for NASA and other customers. Astrobotic Technology\u2019s lander caught a ride on a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan. The Vulcan streaked through the Florida predawn sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon that should culminate with an attempted landing on February 23.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh company aims to be the first private business to successfully land on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. But a Houston company also has a lander ready to fly and could beat it to the lunar surface, taking a more direct path. \u201cFirst to launch. First to land is TBD\u201d \u2013 to be determined, said Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton. NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their lunar landers.<\/p>\n
The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering NASA tech and science experiments as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic\u2019s contract for the Peregrine lander: USD 108 million. The last time the US launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17\u2019s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA\u2019s pinnacle.<\/p>\n
The space agency\u2019s new Artemis program \u2013 named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology \u2013 looks to return astronauts to the moon\u2019s surface within the next few years. First will be a lunar fly-around with four astronauts, possibly before the end of the year. Highlighting Monday\u2019s moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/p>\n
The 202-foot (61-metre) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA\u2019s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company\u2019s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos\u2019 rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan\u2019s two main engines. The Soviet Union and the US racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and India in 2023. But last year also saw landers from Russia and a private Japanese company slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.<\/p>\n
Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander\u2019s more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another. The hourlong descent to the lunar surface \u2013 by far the biggest challenge \u2013 will be \u201cexciting, nail-biting, terrifying all at once,\u201d said Thornton.<\/p>\n
Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-metre-tall) Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico that will catapult to the lunar surface and cruise around, to the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including \u201cStar Trek\u201d creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.<\/p>\n
The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a \u201cprofound desecration\u201d of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find \u201ca good path forward\u201d with the Navajo for future missions. One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission.<\/p>\n
More remains are on the rocket\u2019s upper stage, which, once free of the lander, will indefinitely circle the sun as far out as Mars. Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to USD 1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for this first flight, that\u2019s not the point, according to Thornton. \u201cA lot of people\u2019s dreams and hopes are riding on this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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