2024-02-15 22:30:56
The ship carrying DNA samples and the ashes of around 70 people failed to reach the moon and will land on Fiji Island.
The NASA ship named Peregrine, part of the private mission with which the United States was searching return to the Moon after more than 50 years, will end without meeting its objective.
Peregrine was going to mark a new era in commercial missions to the MoonHowever, after its launch on January 8 aboard the Vulcan rocket, the ship broke down, preventing it from being powered by sunlight.
Astrobotic, the American company in charge, managed to solve the first problems, but then realized a problem without a fix: a fuel leak in your propulsion system. This is how it was ruled that could not meet its objective.
Where will the NASA ship fall?
Although its main objective had been discardedthe Astrobotic team managed to stabilize the ship and extend its shelf life to 10 days.
In fact, Peregrine could continue operating in cislunar space even longerbut its owners made the decision to maintain its trajectory so that it ends up re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere instead of wandering around like space junk.
At this moment the ship is about 300,000 kilometers from Earthand will disintegrate upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere this Thursday the 18th north of Australia, on Fiji Island.
What are the things he carried that will be lost forever?
Between the 20 loads carried by the shipthere were scientific instruments intended to study lunar radiation and composition (Beehive Project from the Autonomous University of Mexico). Likewise, he carried a vehicle the size of a shoe box and a physical bitcoin.
There were also symbolic objects, such as a time capsule with messages from 80,000 children around the world. And, something that was very controversial, is that she had on board the ashes of 70 peopleincluding former presidents of the United States such as Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy y George Washington.