A crippling fuel leak forced a U.S. company on Tuesday to give up on landing a spacecraft on the moon.
Astrobotic Technology’s lander began losing fuel soon after Monday’s launch. The spacecraft also encountered problems keeping its solar panel pointed towards the sun and generating solar power.
“Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the moon,” Astrobotic said in a statement.
In a major step towards returning humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced they will be providing the airlock for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, which is the planned space station that will be in orbit around the Moon and responsible for ferrying future astronauts to and from the lunar surface.
Artist’s rendition of the Lunar Gateway (left) and a potential future airlock provided by the UAE (right). (Credit: NASA)
“The United States and the United Arab Emirates are marking a historic moment in our nations’ collaboration in space, and the future of human space exploration,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We are in a new era of exploration through Artemis – strengthened by the peaceful and international exploration of space. The UAE’s provision of the airlock to Gateway will allow astronauts to conduct groundbreaking science in deep space and prepare to one day send humanity to Mars.”
As a result, the company is now racing to make the most of the situation, though a full Moon landing is now sounding more or less impossible.
“We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time,” the company wrote.
It’s a sad state of affairs. In the most recent update, the company shared the first photo the lander snapped in space, showing a creased layer of insulation, which may have contributed to the spacecraft’s ongoing issues.
Powered by Blue Origin engines, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket launched Astrobotic’s moon lander on a lunar odyssey.
A US spacecraft carrying human remains launched on Monday in a bid to become the first private mission to land on the moon.
If it succeeds, Peregrine will also be the first US mission in more than 50 years to complete a lunar touchdown and could pave the way for commercial space services, such as lunar burials.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for 16 years,” John Thornton, CEO of Astrobiotic, the company behind the lander, said after the launch. “We are on our way to the moon.”
The first Artemis robotic launch to the Moon … An Artemis lunar robotic rover is halfway built … And an up-close look at a volcanic moon … A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! https://youtu.be/PIg5syFH7qg The First Commercial Robotic Launch to the Lunar Surface U.
A spectacular design for a space elevator, with the goal of efficiently transporting passengers into outer space, has been awarded a $11,000 prize.
As the BBC reports, British architect Jordan William Hughes won the prize for space architecture and innovation from the Jacques Rougerie Foundation in Paris.
His concept, dubbed Ascensio, connects an ocean-based ship to a structure in Earth’s orbit via a cable-like structure. The ship is designed to keep up with the spaceport by moving around the ocean.
Preparations for the third flight of Starship are making solid progress after both vehicles completed their respective solo test campaigns. Booster 10 rolled back to the Shipyard for final mods and checkouts before its flight, and Ship 28 wasn’t far behind. Both vehicles are now in their Bays for final work before rolling back to the launch site for integrated stack testing and launch.
Booster 10
Booster 10 recently rolled back to the Booster Bay (Mega Bay 1) on Jan. 2, 2024. SpaceX rolled it back in order to complete final preps and mods ahead of its flight.
V-Space (official site) is a startup that built Korea’s first UAM (Urban Air Transportation) destined to transport people or payloads of up to 120 Kg with their eVTOL all-electric vehicle. As its name indicates, it is a Vertical Take Off and Landing vehicle using a quad-copter design. It has a seat for one person and looks like a drone-like small helicopter.
EVTOL can fly over a 40-mile distance at a maximum speed of 60 Mph, a little bit below most U.S highway’s speed limits. Of course, the main advantage here is the lack of traffic jams, especially in an emergency.
However, the company has a hot new design called V Speeder-X, which looks a lot more modern and aerodynamic. The payload capacity is 230 Kg, but the speed has increased to 50 Mph as one of the use cases is to use the drone as an ambulance. Note that the flight time is relatively short, with about ~20 minutes.
