To prevent getting lost, the elevator goes directly to the safety island to report Liu Yadong A
Source: Red Star News Comprehensive
According to the latest news from CNN on the 8th local time, the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander developed by the American aerospace robotics company Astrobotic suffered a "serious" fuel leak and announced that it would abandon the lunar landing program.
On January 8, 2024, Astrobotic shared the first image of the lander in space The picture comes from US media reports that less than 24 hours after the launch of the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander, Astrobotic said that it would abandon its plan to land on the surface of the moon. The company revealed that the Peregrine Falcon lunar lander had problems with thruster work due to fuel leaks.
Shortly before that, the BBC reported that the Peregrine Falcon lunar lander had technical problems after its launch, causing its solar panels to not be stably aligned with the sun. If the lander does not have the ability to recharge the batteries and maintain a power supply, the mission will not be able to proceed. CNN said the battery panel issue was later resolved, but the obvious problems with the propulsion system could not be resolved.
After 52 years, the United States once again tried to land on the moon, and private companies challenged the moon landing mission for the first time
In the early morning of January 8 local time, the "Vulcan Centaur" rocket of the United Launch Alliance was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida, sending the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander developed by the American Aerospace Robotics Corporation into space. This is the first time that the United States has carried out a mission to the moon in more than 50 years, and it is also the first time that the United States private company has challenged a mission to the moon.
▲The successful launch of the U.S. "Vulcan Centaur" rocket According to the plan, about one hour after launch, the rocket will send the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit. There, the Peregrine Falcon will separate from the rocket, activate its own thrusters and head towards the moon. After entering a predetermined orbit around the Moon, the Peregrine Falcon will operate for a period of time before finally attempting to land on the Moon on February 23, an area of several square kilometers in the mid-latitudes of the Moon's front.
▲The Peregrine Lunar Lander mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS), a program designed to work with U.S. companies to deliver commercial cargo to the moon. Among them, the most remarkable is undoubtedly the first commercial space funeral for mankind. A total of 330 human ashes and DNA samples will be sent to space, including Star Trek founders and three former U.S. presidents. The first-ever commercial deep space burial human "tombstone" will go 300 million kilometers into deep space
According to reports, the "space funeral" was carried out by the American company Celestis. According to the official website of Celestes, the funeral was divided into two different destinations. Among them, the funeral called "Tranquility Flight" will land on the moon with the "Peregrine Falcon", and 62 titanium "memorial capsules" 1/4 to 1/2 inch long will remain on the surface of the moon as "tombstones" "as a permanent tribute to the brave souls who never stopped chasing the stars." ”
▲Titanium capsules filled with human DNA or ashes reportedly contained "human ashes, hair, or DNA," including hair samples from former U.S. presidents Washington, Kennedy, and Eisenhower donated by an anonymous donor. And the DNA of British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, author of "2001: A Space Odyssey", will also be sent to the surface of the moon by the "Tranquility flight".
▲ Hair samples of former U.S. Presidents Washington, Kennedy and Eisenhower will be launched into outer space, and the other is the "Valiant Flight", which will separate from the "Peregrine Falcon" and continue to go deep into space with the remaining 268 capsules with the upper stage of the "Vulcan Centauri" rocket, leave the Earth-Moon system, cross the James Webb telescope, and enter deep space 185 million miles (about 300 million kilometers) away, orbiting the sun indefinitely.
▲ "Flight Brave" According to reports, Gene Roddenberry, the founder of the classic sci-fi series "Star Trek", and his wife, as well as some of the ashes of Nichell Nichols, who plays Lieutenant Uhura in the play, and DeForrest Kelly, who plays Dr. McCoy, will fly into deep space with the "Enterprising". In addition, the ashes of American sculptor Louis Kesh will also be sent to space on a rocket, and her daughter Melissa said: "My mother was fascinated by space exploration during her lifetime, and I am very happy to be able to help her achieve her lifelong dream through this voyage." According to reports, after the completion of the power combustion and coastal phases, the "Yongxiang Flight" will become a "Yongxiang station" and become "the most distant permanent human repository outpost and a pathfinder for mankind to continue to explore space." "They will be an eternal monument where they will revolve around the sun forever. Charles Chafver, CEO and co-founder of Sellers, said, "This is the first commercialized deep space burial project in human history, and we hope to get the industry off to a good start." "Spending $13,000 to become "the farthest human genome from Earth"
According to reports, the "space funeral" was originally scheduled to set sail in May 2023, but it was postponed for more than 8 months due to various reasons. It is worth noting that in this commercial "space funeral", there are still some people who are still alive who also put their own DNA samples into capsules, chasing the dream of "the farthest human genome from Earth". For them, these capsules carry one life story after another that spans life, love, and unfulfilled dreams. According to Sellers, the lunar mission is the first time in human history that human DNA and digital data archives have been allowed to be stored outside the Earth. It is reported that the DNA of the 49-year-old Eugene Rodden Berry and his wife's son will also be sent into outer space along with the ashes of his parents. The DNA of United Launch Alliance CEO Torrey Bruno and his wife Rebecca will also appear on the "same flight". A couple from Arizona also sent their DNA into space, calling it the "ultimate road trip" and saying they loved the idea of being "the farthest human genome from Earth." "We all want to live forever in some way, and it's an opportunity for us to do something that no one else has done and go where no one else has been," the couple said. However, a "space funeral" is expensive, with the highest "deep space funeral" costing about $13,000. In addition, the company offers "funeral services" such as suborbital flights (i.e., returning to Earth and returning them to the participants' families) for about $3,000 and orbital flights around the Earth for $5,000. This is not the first time that humans have performed a "space funeral". In 1998, NASA sent the ashes of scientist Eugene Shoemaker to the moon. In 2006, the ashes of American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, were transported into space aboard a probe. In 2015, the aluminum capsule containing Tombaugh's ashes was tracked as it passed through Pluto's orbit, billions of kilometers away from Earth. Currently, it is still traveling through the Milky Way. However, some critics fear that the memorial capsules could add more "space junk". However, Sellers claims that their mission is environmentally conscious, and that the capsules will be permanently attached to the spacecraft and will never be "released" into the space environment. The chairman of the U.S. Navajo Reservation, Buu Van Nigren, is reportedly unhappy with the idea of storing human remains on the moon and asked NASA to postpone the launch. Nyglen said after talks with the U.S. government on Jan. 5 that it had failed to block plans to send human ashes to the moon on Jan. 8, but the government reaffirmed its commitment to hold consultations on similar issues in the future. Red Star News reporter Xu Chuan Comprehensive CCTV News, Global Network