IT Home reported on January 10 that according to the BBC, the American Aerospace Robotics Corporation (Astrobotic) recently issued a statement saying that "due to propellant leakage, unfortunately, the opportunity for a soft landing on the moon no longer exists."
The company said in a statement that it expects the propellant to run out in about 40 hours, based on the research team's latest calculations. The team will continue to work to find ways to extend the life of the Peregrine lander on this mission.
At 15:18 Beijing time on January 8, the "Vulcan Centaur" rocket developed by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) carried out its first mission (CERT-1) at Cape Car, sending the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander developed by Aerospace Robotics into space.
According to the official introduction, it will glide above the Earth for 28 minutes before reaching the target orbit, and the specific information can be referred to the previous report of IT House. It was the first U.S. mission to the moon in more than 50 years (since Apollo 17 in 1972) and the first time a U.S. private company had challenged the moon.
And during the first few hours of the Peregrine Falcon's journey, engineers discovered that its solar panels were trying to face the sun to facilitate the charging of the batteries. The cause was quickly discovered: a major leak in the propulsion system, causing it to deviate from its original course. In order to stay on the right track in flight, the Peregrine Falcon's thrusters had to work overtime.
When the propellant is completely depleted, the Peregrine Falcon's solar panels will no longer collect sunlight, and the power will quickly disappear.
Peregrine Falcon "width 25 meters, height 1The 9-meter, which will carry a laser retroreflector array, a neutron star spectrometer, magnetometer and other scientific instruments, is expected to land on the Moon's mid-latitude Sticky Bay (Sinus viscositatis) on February 23, 2024.