The Peregrine spacecraft, part of the recent failed U.S. moon mission, has fallen back to Earth, but its fate remains unclear after going missing on January 19 (Vietnam time).
According to an update from Astrobotic – the operator of the Peregrine spacecraft – communication was interrupted at 3:50 PM Eastern Time on January 18, which is 3:50 AM on January 19 in Vietnam.
So far, Astrobotic has not determined the fate of the spacecraft, only knowing that it fell back to Earth along the planned trajectory, entering the atmosphere above the open waters of the South Pacific, as reported by Space.com.
The launch of the Peregrine spacecraft on January 8 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, U.S. Space Force – (Photo: ASTROBOTIC).
The company is still waiting for independent confirmation from government agencies. No reports have been made regarding any fireball entering the sky or unusual debris.
Peregrine is a lunar lander carrying five NASA experiments and a range of other cargo from seven countries, including the ashes of one individual.
It was expected to mark the return of the United States to the lunar surface after more than half a century, as well as the first successful landing of a private spacecraft on this celestial body.
However, just a few hours after the launch, scientists reported a fuel leak that occurred immediately after the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle.
Peregrine began to “wobble” in its subsequent flight path, with all attempts to salvage the situation failing. After discussions with NASA, Astrobotic followed the agency’s recommendation to allow the spacecraft to fall back to Earth in a controlled manner.
Accordingly, the spacecraft was oriented to re-enter the atmosphere in a safe area over the open sea in the South Pacific, so that any remaining debris would not pose a risk to people.
However, Peregrine is a relatively small spacecraft and is expected to burn up completely due to friction in the atmosphere.
Peregrine also fell back exactly according to Astrobotic’s plan, which was on January 18, Eastern Time, or between noon on January 18 and noon on January 19 in Vietnam.
Recently, space agencies from various countries have accelerated their efforts to land on the Moon, with China and India achieving success.
In contrast, besides the United States, Israel, Japan, and Russia have faced failures in their missions, where three spacecraft from Israel, Japan, and Russia crashed into the Moon due to landing issues.
