SIGforum
US moon landing mission in jeopardy

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/7710009505

January 08, 2024, 05:29 PM
sdy
US moon landing mission in jeopardy
https://www.foxbusiness.com/te...g-lunar-mission-risk

A U.S. lunar lander that launched from Florida on Monday in hopes of becoming the first American craft to touch down on the moon in more than 50 years is now suffering from a "critical loss of propellant," putting its mission in jeopardy, its maker says.

Astrobotic Technology says its Peregrine Lunar Lander began the day lifting off on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:18 a.m. before separating approximately 310 miles above Earth about 50 minutes later.

"Astrobotic-built avionics systems, including the primary command and data handling unit, as well as the thermal, propulsion, and power controllers, all powered on and performed as expected," the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company said.

"Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation," according to the company. Astrobotic says the lander is designed to have an onboard solar panel facing the sun for "maximum power generation" while traveling in orbit.

Following a known communication blackout with the Peregrine Lunar Lander, Astrobotic said an improvised maneuver from its team "was successful in reorienting Peregrine’s solar array towards the Sun" and that "We are now charging the battery.

"The Mission Anomaly Board continues to evaluate the data we’re receiving and is assessing the status of what we believe to be the root of the anomaly: a failure within the propulsion system," Astrobotic continued. "Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant. The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time."

NASA has paid Astrobotic $108 million to carry five scientific instruments to the moon, according to Sky News.

Prior to the announcement of the "anomaly," Astrobotic said the Peregrine craft would attempt a landing on the moon on Feb. 23.

"Peregrine could become the first commercial lander, and first American lander in over 50 years, to land on the moon," it said.

The last U.S. mission to the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972.
January 08, 2024, 05:34 PM
MRMATT
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?


_____________________________
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." George Washington.
January 08, 2024, 05:48 PM
sdy
https://arstechnica.com/space/...wont-reach-the-moon/

An unmitigated propellant leak would certainly prevent Peregrine from achieving Astrobotic's goal of landing on the Moon. If the mission went according to plan, the Peregrine lander would complete two long phasing loops around Earth before intercepting the Moon and entering lunar orbit in late January. Then, the Peregrine spacecraft would have ignited its main engines for a powered descent to the lunar surface around February 23.

The Peregrine lander's propulsion system uses a hypergolic propellant mixture, combining hydrazine fuel and a solution of nitric oxide and nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer. This is a tried-and-true architecture because hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide immediately combust upon contact with one another, meaning the propulsion system doesn't need an ignition source.
January 08, 2024, 06:09 PM
wrightd
Tried and true chemistry, check. But someone still used (^*$&()^&$& o-rings from china.




Lover of the US Constitution
Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster
January 08, 2024, 06:15 PM
Sig2340
I say “Саботаж”!

Mind you, I have nothing to based that statement upon.

If just sounded right.





Nice is overrated

"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
January 08, 2024, 06:55 PM
cas
quote:
Originally posted by MRMATT:
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?


They have to time it just right so it will get there at night. If they're off by 8-12 hours it'll land on the sun!



Wink
January 08, 2024, 06:58 PM
armored
quote:
Originally posted by MRMATT:
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?


I might add, 50 years to go back?
We should OWN the Moon!
January 08, 2024, 07:22 PM
wcb6092
quote:
Originally posted by armored:
quote:
Originally posted by MRMATT:
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?


I might add, 50 years to go back?
We should OWN the Moon!


China sent a rover there not too long ago.


_________________________
January 08, 2024, 07:53 PM
nhracecraft
quote:
Originally posted by cas:
quote:
Originally posted by MRMATT:
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?

They have to time it just right so it will get there at night. If they're off by 8-12 hours it'll land on the sun!

Wink

Big Grin Big Grin


____________________________________________________________

If Some is Good, and More is Better.....then Too Much, is Just Enough !!
Trump 47....Make America Great Again!
"May Almighty God bless the United States of America" - parabellum 7/26/20
Live Free or Die!
January 08, 2024, 09:19 PM
trapper189
^^^At first I was like, huh? It’ll burn up well before it gets anywhere near the surface of the Sun. Then, I was like, oh snap, you got me. Wink Big Grin
January 09, 2024, 05:31 AM
frayedends
quote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
^^^At first I was like, huh? It’ll burn up well before it gets anywhere near the surface of the Sun. Then, I was like, oh snap, you got me. Wink Big Grin


The post was confusing. You can land on the moon day or night. You can't land on the sun unless it's night. Big Grin




These go to eleven.
January 09, 2024, 08:11 AM
229DAK
quote:
The Peregrine lander's propulsion system uses a hypergolic propellant mixture, combining hydrazine fuel and a solution of nitric oxide and nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer. This is a tried-and-true architecture because hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide immediately combust upon contact with one another, meaning the propulsion system doesn't need an ignition source.
Also highly toxic and highly corrosive.


_________________________________________________________________________
“A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.”
-- Mark Twain, 1902
January 09, 2024, 08:19 AM
rburg
quote:
Originally posted by 229DAK:
Also highly toxic and highly corrosive.[/QUOTE]

You mean that if things get tough, you can't drink it? I think I prefer alcohol fuel. You can run your car with it, or drink the good stuff. Makes more sense to me.


Unhappy ammo seeker
January 09, 2024, 12:26 PM
wishfull thinker
quote:
Originally posted by MRMATT:
Why is it taking seven weeks to reach the moon?


Traffic?


_______________________

January 15, 2024, 09:36 AM
sdy
https://www.breitbart.com/scie...-back-towards-earth/

The NASA-backed Peregrine One moon lander is now hurtling back towards Earth after last week failing on its historic journey.

Astrobotic, which had been hoping to hoping to land the first American-made spacecraft on the Moon in more than 50 years, predicts its spacecraft will likely burn up in the atmosphere in the next few days, the BBC reports.

Experts had been working with NASA and other space companies to find the most safe and responsible way of ending Peregrine’s mission.

“The team is currently assessing options and we will update as soon as we are able,” the company noted in a social media post.

The Peregrine Mission One (PM1), built by private U.S. space company Astrobotic, blasted into space on 8 January,
January 15, 2024, 09:45 AM
chellim1
quote:
Astrobotic, which had been hoping to hoping to land the first American-made spacecraft on the Moon in more than 50 years, predicts its spacecraft will likely burn up in the atmosphere in the next few days, the BBC reports.

This somehow feels like a metaphor for how far we have fallen...
50 years ago we could land a manned spacecraft on the Moon, now we can't even land an un-manned spacecraft?



"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor
January 15, 2024, 10:06 AM
229DAK
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
Astrobotic, which had been hoping to hoping to land the first American-made spacecraft on the Moon in more than 50 years, predicts its spacecraft will likely burn up in the atmosphere in the next few days, the BBC reports.

This somehow feels like a metaphor for how far we have fallen...
50 years ago we could land a manned spacecraft on the Moon, now we can't even land an un-manned spacecraft?
Our stuff works on Mars, though.


_________________________________________________________________________
“A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.”
-- Mark Twain, 1902
January 15, 2024, 11:46 AM
trapper189
quote:
Our stuff works on Mars, though.

Once we got that metric system figured out.

Mars Climate Observer
"An investigation indicated that the failure resulted from a navigational error due to commands from Earth being sent in English units (in this case, pound-seconds) without being converted into the metric standard (Newton-seconds)."
January 15, 2024, 03:14 PM
Bytes
quote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
quote:
Our stuff works on Mars, though.

Once we got that metric system figured out.

Mars Climate Observer
"An investigation indicated that the failure resulted from a navigational error due to commands from Earth being sent in English units (in this case, pound-seconds) without being converted into the metric standard (Newton-seconds)."


Damn dude, I forgot about that. I didn't know what you were implying and then this old feeble mind remembered.

Big GrinBig GrinBig Grin
January 15, 2024, 04:41 PM
MoosehornMan
I hears it on Fox, it must be true.


“Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.”

John Adams