[ad_1]
A private lunar lander now has a ride for its historic 2021 mission.
A Vulcan Centaur rocket from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) will send Astrobotic Pilgrim lander En route to Earth's closest neighbor in two years, representatives of both companies announced today (August 19).
The mission will be the first operational flight for both vehicles.
Related: The complete set of NASA lunar missions before the departure of astronauts
"We are very excited to be signing with ULA and piloting Peregrine on the Vulcain Centaur," said Astrobotic CEO John Thornton. said in a statement. "When we launch the first American lunar lander from Apollo, aboard the first Vulcan Centaur rocket, it will be a historic day for the country and the commercial enterprise."
The mission is flying through NASA's commercial lunar payload service (CLPS) program, which has awarded Astrobotic $ 79.5 million this month for up to 14 NASA payloads up to the lunar surface on Peregrine. The undercarriage will also carry various other payloads; To date, 16 different customers have signed up for the flight, officials from the Pittsburgh-based company said.
Vulcan Centaur is the successor of ULA's Atlas V rocket, which is a beast of burden, which has launched many prestigious spacecraft over the years, including NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, the New Horizons Pluto spacecraft and the mission OSIRIS-REx. ULA has been developing the next generation of Vulcan since 2014.
Astrobotic is the second company to commit to Vulcan Centaur in less than a week. August 14, Sierra Nevada Corp. announced that the rocket would Launches Dream Chaser Space Aircraft Company on robotic cargo missions to the International Space Station for NASA.
The goal of the SPDP is to place NASA's scientific and technological burdens on the lunar surface. The main objective is to help the agency to Artemis Program, which plans to land astronauts near the South Pole of the Moon by 2024 and to establish a long – term and sustainable human presence on Earth 's natural satellite and around it. a little after. Such activities will help prepare NASA and its partners to take the step towards Mars in the 2030s, agency officials said.
Two other US companies, Orbit Beyond and Intuitive Machines, have signed SPDP agreements similar to those of Astrobotic. Orbit beyond recently abandoned, stating that he could not meet the aggressive schedule. The company's goal was to launch its first moon landing mission in September 2020.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
[ad_2]
Source link