This is a first in fifty years. After Neil Armstrong’s first steps in 1969, then the various Apollo missions, the United States once again traveled to the Moon. The Vulcan Centaur rocket from the ULA industrial group, which brings together Boeing and Lockheed Martin, made its first flight from Cape Canaveral, lifting off Florida soil at 2:18 a.m. local time on Monday.
The lander on board, named Peregrine, was developed by the start-up Astrobotic, with the support of NASA, which commissioned this company to transport scientific equipment to the Moon – a contract worth $108 million. . The launch should inaugurate a series of missions supported by the American space agency, which wishes to rely partly on the private sector for its lunar ambitions.
If Astrobotic manages to land on the Moon as planned on February 23, it could become the first company to achieve this feat. In recent years, Israeli and Japanese companies have attempted to land on the moon, but these missions have ended in crashes.
Study the surface and radiation
“Leading America’s return to the surface of the Moon, for the first time since Apollo, is a tremendous honor,” Astrobotic boss John Thornton said at a press conference on Friday. However, he said he was aware of the difficulty of the task and the risks of failure.
Approximately fifty minutes after takeoff, Peregrine must separate from the rocket: Astrobotic will then power up the device and attempt to establish communication. If all goes well, the lander will continue its route towards our natural satellite. Once in lunar orbit, the probe will wait until the lighting conditions are right to attempt to land. The targeted landing site is located on the visible side of the Moon, near mysterious domes formed by lava but which scientists struggle to explain. Thanks to the instruments sent, NASA must study the composition of the surface, as well as the radiation.
Human ashes and controversy
The mission has also caused controversy because it carries the ashes or DNA of dozens of people, including those of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry. A partnership with the Celestis company, specializing in “commemorative spaceflights”. Sending these ashes to the Moon aroused the anger of the Navajo Native American tribe, who denounced the “desecration of a sacred place”, without however obtaining the postponement of the launch.
Vulcan Centaur, in development for around ten years, represents “the future of the company”, underlined Mark Peller, vice-president of the ULA group. The rocket (around 60 meters high) should allow it to replace its Atlas V and Delta IV launchers, and to compete with SpaceX with more affordable takeoffs. ULA, which plans six Vulcan Centaur launches this year, subsequently wishes to recover its engines after each flight for even greater profitability.
Companies want to reach the Moon
If NASA seeks to encourage the development of a lunar economy. It has therefore signed a contract with several companies, including Astrobotic, to send scientific equipment to the Moon. The program, called CLPS, provides companies with crucial financing.
Another selected company, Intuitive Machines, is also scheduled to launch for the Moon in mid-February with a SpaceX rocket. This new strategy should allow NASA “to make the trip more often, more quickly and for less,” explained Joel Kearns, a senior official within the space agency. These missions studying the lunar environment should make it possible to prepare for the return of astronauts to the Moon, which NASA is planning with its Artemis program.