More than four days after lift-off, and despite a fuel leak that led to the failure of the mission, an American company's lunar lander continues to work as best it can in space – at least for the time being.
• Read also: The failure of the first American company to land on the moon
• Read also: A special American landing mission is in danger after an “anomaly”
• Read also: A new rocket carrying an American landing craft ready for take-off
Having developed the Peregrine lander, startup Astrobotic was scheduled to attempt the first landing of an American device on the moon in more than 50 years.
But the company announced earlier this week that the device will not be able to land on the moon as planned.
Despite everything, Astrobotic teams continue to search for “solutions to extend its life,” the company announced on Friday, which is now operating it as a ship in order to collect as much data as possible for a future attempt.
According to the startup, the malfunction that occurred shortly after takeoff on Monday could have been caused by a faulty valve that caused the tank to “rupture.” Result: Fuel leak affecting the landing gear.
France Press agency
Astrobotic has not given up, and its efforts have paid off: so far the machine has managed to stay on course, traveling more than 350,000 kilometers from Earth.
The cargo on board, including NASA's scientific instruments, successfully transferred data. NASA said that two of them were making radiation measurements during the flight.
“Sending a ship to the moon is not easy,” Nikki Fox, NASA’s associate administrator responsible for science missions, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I applaud the hard work, perseverance and commitment of Astrobotic as they face the challenges of their mission.”
It is not yet clear how the lander will end its adventure, although some space enthusiasts are speculating that it might crash into the lunar surface.
