The United States will return to the moon on January 25 after fifty years.
On January 25, more than half a century after the final Apollo mission, the United States will attempt to land a craft on the moon, according to the leader of a potential private corporation that achieves a successful lunar landing. The United States will return to the moon on January 25 after fifty years.
On board the spacecraft designated Peregrine, there will be no one. It was developed by the American firm Astrobotic, whose CEO John Thornton stated that, in preparation for NASA’s Artemis manned missions, it will contain instruments for studying the lunar environment.
NASA commissioned American firms to dispatch scientific experiments and technologies to the moon under the CLPS program several years ago.
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The implementation of fixed-price contracts has the potential to facilitate the establishment of a lunar economy and reduce the expense of transport services.
“Attempting a launch and landing on the surface moon for a fraction of what it would otherwise cost is one of the greatest challenges of what we’re attempting here,” Thornton said at a press briefing on Wednesday at his company’s base in Pittsburgh.
“Only about half of the missions that have gone to the moon’s surface have been successful,” according to him. It is, therefore, undeniably a formidable challenge. “At each stage of this, I will simultaneously feel thrilled and terrified.”
On December 24, from Florida, the inaugural flight of the Vulcan Centaur, a new rocket developed by the ULA industrial group, is scheduled to commence.
Thornton stated that the spacecraft would take “a few days” to enter lunar orbit. Still, it will not be able to attempt landing until January 25 due to the favorable lighting conditions at the target location.
Although the descent will occur automatically and without human intervention, it will be monitored from the control center of the organization.
The Japanese startup Ispace attempted to land on the moon as the first private corporation to do so in the spring; however, the mission was unsuccessful. In 2019, Israel also encountered a setback. India is the only nation to have accomplished a successful lunar landing, joining the United States, Russia, and China.
NASA has also entered into contractual agreements with Firefly Aerospace, Draper, Intuitive Machines, and Astrobotics.
In January, the latter is scheduled to depart aboard a SpaceX rocket. “NASA leadership is cognizant of the dangers and has acknowledged that a number of these missions may not be successful,” said CLPS program manager Chris Culbert.
“But even if every landing isn’t successful, CLPS already had an impact on the commercial infrastructure needed to establish a lunar economy,” he continued. Through the Artemis initiative, NASA aims to establish a lunar surface base.
