The Peregrine mission, which aimed to reach the Moon more than fifty years after the last US landing, has been abandoned due to a critical loss of fuel. The Peregrine One Mission (PM1) was launched on Monday but began to experience energy loss shortly after liftoff. Despite engineers’ efforts to reorient the module towards the Sun for energy supply and regain communication with the spacecraft, the critical fuel loss has led to the mission being abandoned.
Astrobotic, the company behind the mission, stated that the module only has 40 hours of fuel remaining, which will not be enough to reach its planned destination by February 23. The new objective is to get the Peregrine module “as close as possible” to the Moon before it loses power.
The Peregrine lander was carrying NASA scientific instruments as part of its initiative to study the lunar exosphere, thermal properties of the lunar regolith, and the abundance of hydrogen in the soil of the landing site, among other objectives.
Despite the setback, NASA has assured that it has “more tools to explore space” and is working with Astrobotic to determine the impact of the mission’s cancellation on the agency’s scientific investigations aboard the Peregrine spacecraft.
The module also carried a rock fragment from Mount Everest and the ashes and DNA of space enthusiasts such as “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.
This setback comes as a disappointment for the mission, which aimed to become the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since 1972. Despite the challenges faced, both NASA and Astrobotic remain committed to future lunar exploration initiatives as part of the Artemis return to the Moon program.