Astrobotic unveiled the flight model of its lunar landing Peregrine during a visit by senior NASA officials and government officials to the company’s headquarters.
The flight model, unlike earlier test models, is the version of Peregrine that will actually fly to the moon with a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket. Its opening is a sign of Peregrine’s readiness, as it is approaching the launch date scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.
Peregrine is the first landing craft in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to unveil its flight model and become the first US spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo program.
The discovery of Peregrine took place at the Astrobotic headquarters in Pittsburgh, about 50,000 feet of state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the development and operation of lunar spacecraft. As the flight model had to be protected from contamination of the spacecraft’s sensitive components, attendees had to wear white overalls and hair nets to enter the clean room where the Peregrine was assembled.
“Building this lunar spacecraft is a dream come true,” said John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic. “That’s why our company was founded 15 years ago. It is the culmination of countless hours over many years of hundreds of people designing and assembling the lander, creating the lunar supply market and creating the facilities and supply chain needed to ensure the success of commercial space missions such as the Peregrine. future. “
In the clean room were also the 24 payloads that Peregrine will deliver to the lunar surface. These include scientific instruments from three national space agencies – including 11 from NASA alone – a rover from Carnegie Mellon University, several payloads from trading companies and cultural messages from people on Earth.
Payloads are already integrated into Peregrine’s cockpits awaiting installation on the larger landing module. Once Peregrine’s integration is complete, he will set out to test the spacecraft’s environment before being sent to Cape Canaveral in Florida to begin final preparations for launch in the fourth quarter of 2022.
www.astrobotic.com
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