An imposing new rocket has taken flight, carrying what could be the first commercial lander to land on the Moon – and the first lunar landing mission launched from the United States since 1972.
The Vulcan Centaur rocket, a never-before-seen model developed by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, came to life at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:18 am (Brasília time) this Monday (8).
The launch vehicle is hurtling toward space, using up its fuel as it tries to break free from Earth's gravity and send the lunar module, called Peregrine, inside on its way to the Moon.
At around 5 am (Brasília time), the Peregrine spacecraft is expected to separate from the rocket and begin its slow journey to the lunar surface. If everything goes according to plan, the probe could land on the Moon on February 23.
What's on board
Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology developed the Peregrino lander – named after the falcon, which is the world's fastest-flying bird – under a contract with NASA.
The space agency paid Astrobotic $108 million to develop Peregrine and bring NASA's scientific experiments to the lunar surface.
But the space agency is just one customer among many for this mission.
Of the 20 payloads that Peregrine will take to the Moon, five are NASA scientific instruments. The other 15 come from various customers.
Some are additional scientific cargo from countries like Mexico, while others include a robotics experiment from a private UK-based company and trinkets or souvenirs that German shipping company DHL has gathered.
Peregrine also carries remains on behalf of two commercial space burial companies – Elysium Space and Celestis – a move that has generated opposition from the Navajo Nation, the largest group of Native Americans in the United States.
The group says allowing the remains to land on the lunar surface would be an affront to many indigenous cultures, which consider the Moon sacred. Celestis offers to take ashes to the Moon for prices starting at more than US$10,000, according to the company's website.
The five NASA-sponsored experiments include two instruments to monitor the radiation environment, “helping us better prepare to send crewed missions back to the Moon,” said Paul Niles, NASA project scientist for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. , the arm of NASA that provided funding for Peregrine, during a press conference on Thursday.
Other instruments will analyze the composition of the lunar soil, looking for water and hydroxyl molecules. NASA will also study the moon's superthin atmosphere.
Once on the Moon's surface, Peregrine is expected to operate for up to 10 days before its landing site is plunged into darkness – making it too cold to continue.
Also aboard the Vulcan Centaur rocket, packaged separately from the Peregrine lander, is another payload from space funeral company Celestis.
The object, on a mission called Enterprise Flight, will contain 265 capsules with human remains, as well as DNA samples from former US presidents John F. Kennedy, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower.
The remains also include “the creator and several cast members of the original Star Trek television series, as well as an Apollo-era astronaut, along with people from all walks of life, interests and vocations,” according to the company's website.
The Apollo astronaut whose remains are aboard Enterprise Flight is Philip Chapman, who was selected for the astronaut corps in 1967 but never flew into space. He died in 2021.
A new rocket
Setting aside the excitement of an imminent lunar landing attempt, the launch of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket was an event in itself.
The rocket is one of the most anticipated new vehicles to fly in years. If the rocket's mission is successful, it could be a game changer for ULA and the launch industry in general.
ULA was formed in 2006 in response to the U.S. military's need to keep Boeing's Delta and Lockheed Martin's Atlas rockets operational. But the launch industry looks very different today than it did nearly two decades ago, and in the meantime, SpaceX has emerged as a dominant force undercutting ULA.
ULA and its CEO, Tory Bruno, predict that the Vulcan Centaur will replace its Atlas and Delta rockets. Vulcan Centaur already has around 70 missions scheduled, according to Bruno.
ULA has an impeccable launch record, with virtually no failed missions. Vulcan Centaur builds on the success of ULA's Atlas rockets by using essentially the same upper stage – the part of the rocket that propels a spacecraft to orbital speeds after initial liftoff.
But a big change was made to the rocket's first stage, the lower part that gives it the launch pad's initial burst of energy.
The Vulcan Centaur will be powered by two side boosters as well as two US-made rocket engines – developed by the Jeff Bezos-funded company Blue Origin – at the base of its first stage booster, replacing the Russian-made engines that powered the Atlas rockets.
ULA's dependence on Russian engines has become politically unpopular as tensions between the United States and Russia have increased in recent years.
The debut of the Vulcan Centaur has been delayed for years, although it is common in the aerospace industry for companies to exceed deadlines.
ULA encountered long delays waiting for Blue Origin's new engines. And a Vulcan Centaur upper stage was inadvertently destroyed on a test stand last year.
Despite these setbacks, Bruno said in November that the development of the Vulcan Centaur was one of the “most orderly and well-executed development programs I have worked on in my long career in the aerospace industry.”
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
