The civilian Peregrine Lunar Module’s long journey is over and it is about to return to its home planet.
According to its manufacturer, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, the Hayabusa could crash into Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean today (January 18) at around 4:00 pm ET (9:00 pm GMT). is said to be high.
“Astrobotic positioned the Peregrine spacecraft for a safe and controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over a remote surface area in the South Pacific,” the company said in an article. Updated Wednesday night (January 17).
“The team continues to monitor reentry analysis with NASA,” Astrobotic added, noting that such work revealed “no anticipated hazards.”
Related: Failure of private Peregrine lunar lander won’t stop NASA’s ambitious commercial moon program
Peregrine was launched on January 8th on the first mission of United Launch Alliance’s powerful new rocket, Vulcan Centaur.
The lander carries 20 payloads for various customers, including NASA with five science experiments on board through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program. The lander also carries human remains in the form of a commemorative payload revealed by Celestis and Elysium Space.
Peregrine had aimed to deliver the device to the moon’s surface next month, but plans were derailed by a fuel leak shortly after launch. Lander pilots determined that the problem was caused by a damaged oxidizer tank, and suggested a stuck valve may have been the culprit.
Despite the propulsion anomaly, Peregrine continues to operate. The lander recently reached as far as the moon and then began looping back on a collision course with Earth. Astrobotic has worked with her NASA to develop a plan to make future collisions as safe as possible.
The Peregrine team took two major steps to put Peregrine on the best possible collision trajectory, Astrobotic wrote in an update Wednesday evening. First, he performed a series of 23 small burns in the lander’s main engine. (Due to fuel leakage, one long combustion was no longer possible.)
“Second, we adjusted the spacecraft’s attitude so that the forces caused by the leaked propellant moved toward the South Pacific,” Astrobotic wrote.
“The steps taken by the team were to minimize the risk of debris reaching land,” they added. “Astrobotic continues to work closely with NASA and other relevant government authorities to keep everyone informed and seek feedback as appropriate.”
We’ll need to know more about Peregrine’s Death Plunge soon, as well as updates on Astrobotic’s website. The company will host a media teleconference on Friday (January 19th) at 1pm ET (6pm GMT) to discuss Peregrine’s mission and its fate.
