The first US lunar surface mission in decades left the launching pad at 2:18 a.m. Astrobotic's first lunar lander, Peregrine, is on board, developed by a team at Carnegie Mellon University.
The lander will deliver science instruments to the moon for international space agencies, NASA and customers like the university.
Peregrine is expected to arrive on February 23.
4:15 p.m. update
1:05 p.m. update is discouraging.
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.
12:30 p.m. update:
We have successfully re-established communications with Peregrine after the known communication blackout. The team’s improvised maneuver was successful in reorienting Peregrine’s solar array toward the Sun. We are now charging the batter. The Mission Anomaly Board continues to evaluate the date 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.
We are grateful for the outpouring of support we’re receiving – from messages on social media to phone calls and helping hands. This is what makes the space industry so special, that we unite in the face of adversity. A heartfelt thanks you from the entire Peregrine Mission One team.
11:30 a.m. update:
We continue to gather data and report our best assessment of what we see. The team believes that the likely cause of the unstable sun-pointing is a propulsion anomaly that, if proven true, threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the Moon. As the team fights to troubleshoot the issue, the spacecraft battery is reaching operationally low levels. Just before entering a known period of communication outage, the team developed and executed an improvised maneuver to reorient the solar panels toward the Sun. Shortly after this maneuver, the spacecraft entered an expected period of communication loss. We will provide more updates as Peregrine comes in view of the ground station again.
Previous update:
There's new information about Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar mission.
The Pittsburgh-based company says there's been an anomaly.
In an update, Astrobotic says Peregrine successfully separated from the rocket, and was receiving telemetry.
Avionics, propulsion and other systems powered on and that's when the anomaly occurred.
Astrobotic says the glitch is preventing a stable orientation.
The company says it will offer updates as data is analyzed.