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NASA’s Artemis 1 Space Launch System will launch in November 2022 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
More than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, the United States will try to land on the moon again on January 25, the head of the company that could become the first private company to land on the moon has said.
The lander, named Peregrine, is empty. It was developed by American company Astrobotic, and its CEO John Thornton said it will carry NASA instruments to study the lunar environment in anticipation of NASA’s Artemis manned mission. Ta.
A few years ago, NASA chose to commission American companies to send scientific experiments and technology to the moon. This is a program called CLPS.
These fixed-price contracts should enable the development of a lunar economy and the provision of transportation services at lower costs.
“One of the big challenges we’re trying to do here is to try to launch and land on the moon at a fraction of the normal cost,” Thornton said Wednesday at a press conference at his company’s Pittsburgh location. ” he said.
“Only about half of the missions to the moon so far have been successful,” he said.
“So it’s certainly a daunting challenge. I’m going to be simultaneously scared and excited every step of the way.”
Takeoff is scheduled for December 24th from Florida aboard the maiden flight of ULA Industrial Group’s new rocket, Vulcan Centaur.
Thornton said the spacecraft will take “several days” to reach lunar orbit, but will need to wait until January 25 to ensure lighting conditions at the target site are suitable before attempting to land.
The descent will be performed autonomously without human intervention, but will be monitored from the company’s control center.
Already in the spring, the Japanese startup iSpace attempted to become the first private company to land on the moon, but the mission ended in failure. Israel also experienced setbacks in 2019. Only four countries have successfully landed on the moon: the United States, Russia, China, and recently India.
In addition to Astrobotic, NASA has contracts with other companies such as Firefly Aerospace, Draper, and Intuitive Machines.
The latter is scheduled to take off aboard a SpaceX rocket in January.
CLPS program manager Chris Calvert said, “NASA leadership recognizes the risks and accepts that some of these missions may not be successful.”
“But even if all landings are not successful, CLPS is already impacting the commercial infrastructure needed to establish a lunar economy,” he said.
With its Artemis mission, NASA hopes to establish a base on the surface of the moon.
