Failed US moon lander destroyed over the Pacific

US spacecraft Peregrine One has burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific.

The spacecraft was operated by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic and suffered a propulsion fault, preventing a lunar touchdown. It was commanded to self-destruct, re-entering Earth’s atmosphere to disintegrate over the Pacific.

A tracking station in Canberra confirmed the loss of signal with Peregrine at 20:59 GMT. Little to no debris from Peregrine would survive the re-entry and reach the ocean surface.

The mission aimed to deliver five NASA instruments to the Moon to study the environment in preparation for future astronaut missions. This mission was significant as it could have been the first American lunar landing in fifty years and the first-ever by a private venture.

The spacecraft encountered problems shortly after its launch on January 8. Despite this the team managed to operate it in space for over ten days, extending its life beyond initial expectations.

Despite the mission’s failure, Sian Cleaver from Airbus praised it as an ‘incredible engineering success’. The team’s ability to restore some spacecraft capabilities and gather data was highlighted as an impressive feat.

The failure was traced to a leaking propellant from a ruptured oxidizer tank, which affected the spacecraft’s orientation and solar panel alignment, crucial for power.

Some onboard payloads were activated and collected data, including the Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), developed in the UK. These technologies are expected to be used in future lunar missions.

Astrobotic is part of a new private-public partnership with NASA, alongside two other companies, Intuitive Machines and Firefly. They plan six missions to the lunar surface in 2024. Astrobotic is scheduled to attempt another lunar landing later in the year with the NASA rover Viper.