By Girish Linganna

Jan 9: A POWERFUL ROCKET MADE BY A COMPANY owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin was launched for the first time early on Monday. This was its first flight after many years of waiting. This unmanned vehicle will attempt a Moon landing next month, being the first American spacecraft to reach the Moon’s surface in over 50 years since Apollo 17 in 1972. The landing is expected to take place on February 23, 2024. Should Moon lander Peregrine made by Astrobotic achieve a successful landing next month as scheduled, it will be the first-ever private mission to touch down on the Moon’s surface.

Peregrine, is also carrying unusual items into space, such as human DNA and ashes of people who have died. These are the DNA and ashes of Gene Roddenberry, who made the hugely successful, eponymous television series in the 1960s, Star Trek, and some actors from the show, including his wife, Majel Barrett, along with the DNA of former US president John F Kennedy, besides an array of scientific instruments, according to media reports.

The Boeing-Lockheed venture United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) 202-foot Vulcan Centaur rocket was launched at 2:18 am from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It went into space with a trail of fire, carrying Moon lander Peregrine. The rocket, equipped with two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and two BE-4 first-stage engines made by Blue Origin, launched into the sky with almost 2 million pounds of force (8896.4 KN).

Approximately five minutes post-launch, the Vulcan rocket’s first stage turned off its engines and separated from the upper stage, known as Centaur. Subsequently, following a brief pause of 15 seconds, the Centaur upper stage initiated the first of its three engine burns. The Centaur’s initial burn was brief, lasting approximately 30 seconds. After that, there was a more extended burn for translunar injection, taking about four minutes, which happened half an hour later. Roughly 50.5 minutes following the launch, Peregrine, the main payload of the rocket, was deployed to continue its voyage towards the Moon.

Peregrine Anomaly: Mission Critical

But, after taking off on Monday, spacecraft Peregrine encountered a problem that made it difficult to stay aligned in the correct position towards the sun. This issue was fixed, but then it was found that the spacecraft’s propulsion system was not working correctly, causing it to lose fuel. The problem in the propulsion system is leading to serious loss of fuel. The team is trying to control this loss. Right now, they are focusing on getting as much scientific information and data as they can. They are also looking into different ways to carry out the mission under these circumstances.

ULA, known for its large and powerful rockets, competes with SpaceX. Led by Elon Musk, SpaceX has become the leading rocket launcher worldwide in recent years. It has captured more market share and increased its launches with its partly reusable Falcon fleet. At a recent briefing, ULA vice-president Mark Peller stated that the Vulcan is built to provide both medium and heavy launch capabilities, signifying the varying amounts of mass it can carry, all within a single rocket.

The Peregrine lander measures 1.9 metres in height and 2.5 metres in width, with a total weight of 1,280 kg, including fuel. It has the capacity to carry payloads of up to 265 kg. Besides five scientific instruments from NASA, Astrobotic is also transporting several payloads mounted on Peregrine not affiliated with NASA. Peregrine is equipped with 20 payloads from various customers. These 20 payloads will allow six countries—Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, the Seychelles and Nepal—to send materials to the Moon for the first time.

NASA’S 5 SCIENTIFIC PAYLOADS

The five scientific instruments from NASA on board Peregrine will analyse and describe the lunar conditions once the lander has touched down on the Moon.

• The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) will employ mirrors and lasers for extremely accurate distance measurements and serve as a permanent marker of Peregrine’s location on the Moon’s surface
• The Lunar Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS) is designed to assess the radiation levels around the spacecraft, both while it is in lunar orbit and after it lands on the Moon’s surface

NASA’s Peregrine mission also includes three distinct spectrometers as part of its payload:

• The Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometers System (NIRVSS) designed to detect hydrogen on and beneath the Moon’s surfaceo
• The Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometers for Lunar Surface Volatiles (PITMS) used to investigate the thin atmosphere of the Moon
• The Neutron Spectrometer System intended to detect changes in hydrogen-containing materials on the Moon’s surface during its day and night cycles

THE PLANNED LANDING ZONE

The planned landing zone for Peregrine, the Gruithuisen Domes, consists of volcanic hills located near the northeastern edge of Oceanus Procellarum, a large lunar mare. This area is on the side of the Moon that faces Earth and is not near the lunar poles. ‘Mare’, in the context of the Moon, refers to a large, dark plain formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They are typically smoother and darker than the surrounding lunar highlands due to the basaltic lava (rich in iron and magnesium) flows that filled in these regions billions of years ago.

Landing on the Moon is an achievement that only four countries—the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India—have managed so far, with no private firms having done it. Sharad Bhaskaran, the Peregrine mission director at Astrobotic, discussed with Space.com the strategies they employed in designing their lunar lander to maximize its chances of a successful landing. Up to five lunar landers, built and managed by private US companies, may try to land on the Moon in 2024, carrying research instruments for NASA and other cargo.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which established ULA nearly 20 years ago with approval from the Pentagon, have been contemplating the sale of the company.

The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach out to him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com.