Key events
Robin McKie
Nasa’s plans for the moon haven’t met with universal acclaim. Aside from the carbon footprint of space missions, there are concerns about human exploitation of the moon damaging its scientific value, as the Observer’s science editor Robin McKie reported at the weekend:
Astronomers have warned that an unrestricted rush to exploit the moon could cause irreparable damage to precious scientific sites. Gravitational wave research, black hole observations, studies to pinpoint life on tiny worlds that orbit distant stars, and other research could be jeopardised, they say.
“The issue has become urgent,” Martin Elvis, of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, told the Observer. “We need to act now because decisions made today will set the tone for our future behaviour on the moon.”
This point was backed by astronomer Professor Richard Green, of the University of Arizona. “We are not trying to block the building of lunar bases. However, there are only a handful of promising sites there and some of these are incredibly precious scientifically. We need to be very, very careful where we build our mines and bases.”
An illustration of the problem facing scientists was highlighted by Green: “A few deep lunar craters have been discovered to have been shrouded in shadow since the moon formed billions of years ago. Sunlight has never reached their floors and so they are unbelievably cold – probably only a few dozen degrees above absolute zero. And that makes them scientifically very valuable.”
Craters like these would be ideal for housing delicate scientific instruments, and in addition, it is thought these lightless craters may contain water in the form of super-cold ice that did not evaporate as it did elsewhere on the moon during its early history. These sunless seas of ice could reveal precious information about the history of water’s arrival.
However, craters filled with ice would also be priceless in the eyes of lunar colonisers and would become irresistible targets for companies and astronauts setting up colonies.
Read more here: Moon’s resources could be ‘destroyed by thoughtless exploitation’, Nasa warned
Ian Sample
Here is a little bit more from my colleague, science editor Ian Sample, on the scientific value of the mission:
If all goes well, Peregrine’s instruments will measure radiation levels, surface and subsurface water ice, the magnetic field, and the extremely tenuous layer of gas called the exosphere. The readings are expected to help minimise risks and harness the moon’s natural resources when humans return to its surface.
The mission will analyse the composition of the lunar exosphere and monitor how it changes over the eight or so Earth days that the lander will operate. Researchers hope to see the effect of natural cycles, such as temperature swings from 100C to -100C, and the lander’s own activities.
As a potential resource for future missions, water is a key molecule to find. The mission may reveal how water molecules are released from the surface during daytime and trapped again at night, shedding light on the circulation of lunar water.
As mentioned, the mission is due to last the better part of two months. If launch is successful, it is planned that it will go through a an Earth orbit period, then cruise to the moon, have a lunar orbit phase, and then it will descend and land in Sinus Viscositatis.
That translates to Bay of Stickiness, although it does also sound slightly like something your respiratory system could get diagnosed with. It is named after the lava formation there.
It absolutely isn’t a foregone conclusion that it will get there, however. Astrobotic CEO John Thornton, the people who built the lander, told CNN last week “This really is like a 50-50 shots on goal kind of an approach – where it’s really more about the industry succeeding, not any specific one mission.”
Peregrine 1 is heading to the moon armed with an array of scientific instruments.
The lander is about 1.9 m high and roughly 2.5 m across and will be carrying some very fancy-sounding equipment including the Laser Retro-Reflector Array (LRA), a Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS), the Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), a PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), and a Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS).
It was built by Astrobotic, and is sitting on top of a rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance, so Nasa has very much been the commissioning body here, rather than in control of all the parts of the mission as we’ve been used to for much of the lifetime of US space ventures.
Peregrine is attempting to be the first commercial mission to achieve a soft moon landing
Ian Sample
My colleague, Science editor Ian Sample, teed up our coverage of the mission with this piece on Friday:
Even in the white-knuckle world of space exploration, the mission is considered risky. While Nasa has instruments aboard the robotic lander, this is a commercial operation. No private company has ever achieved a soft landing on the moon or any other celestial body.
“There’s a lot riding here,” said John Thornton, the chief executive of Astrobotic, the Pittsburgh firm leading the mission. “It’s a mix of emotions. There’s thrill and excitement, but I’m also a bit terrified because there’s a lot on the line.”
Adding to the nerves is the fact that the Vulcan rocket Peregrine sits on has never flown before, though its manufacturer, United Launch Alliance, has had a 100% mission success rate with its predecessor rockets.
Peregrine is the first mission to fly under Nasa’s commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) initiative, a new scheme in which the space agency pays private companies to deliver scientific equipment to the moon. Peregrine carries five Nasa payloads and 15 others. One, a shoebox-sized rover from Carnegie Mellon University, is set to become the first US robot to take a spin on the moon.
Read more here: Peregrine mission almost ready for attempt to put US landers back on the moon
Welcome …
Welcome to our live coverage of the launch of Peregrine 1. It is the first time that the US has attempted to land something on the moon for fifty years, and while it has some scientific instruments on board from Nasa, it is a commercially operated flight and the first time a commercial company has attempted to put something there.
Peregrine 1 isn’t going to the moon in a hurry though – if it successfully launches today then it is expected to land on 23 February – but launch is one of the most dangerous and risky parts of any space missions. Scientists, and the business people behind the venture, will be anxious that years of work designing the lander doesn’t go awry.
We will be following the launch here on this live blog, with lift off scheduled for 07:18 GMT (2.18 EST / 18.18 AEDT), in just over an hour’s time.
