Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, carrying a variety of payloads including NASA instruments and a lunar rover named Iris, encountered a setback on its journey to the moon. A propellant leak forced the lander to reenter Earth’s atmosphere a week and a half after its launch.
Despite not reaching its intended destination, many of the payloads onboard were able to conduct tests and collect valuable data during the flight. The Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS) and the Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) successfully operated, gathering data on the cislunar radiation environment and detecting traces of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide.
Interestingly, NASA’s PITMS instrument was pivotal in identifying the propellant leak on the lander. Additionally, Iris, the non-NASA payload onboard, managed to test numerous subsystems and confirm their functionality.
In the aftermath of the incident, Astrobotic is conducting a thorough review of the mission to pinpoint the root cause of the issue and implement necessary changes for future missions. NASA, on the other hand, will await the results of the investigation before determining any adjustments needed for upcoming missions, such as the Griffin lander and VIPER rover.
The launch of Griffin and VIPER, originally scheduled for November, is expected to be postponed as a result of the ongoing investigation and other mission preparations. A new launch date will be announced once the investigation is concluded. Stay tuned for more updates on these exciting lunar exploration missions.
