This failure of NASA’s moon mission reminds of Chandrayaan 3’s exemplary moon landing

Astrobotic Technology, a private firm funded by NASA, managed to orient its lander towards the Sun so that solar panels could collect sunlight and charge its batteries. However, the spacecraft soon suffered a “serious” fuel leak, dashing hopes of a planned Moon landing on February 23.

The problem was reported about seven hours after liftoff Monday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket provided lift to the astrobotic’s lander, named Peregrine, and put it on a long, roundabout path to the moon.

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According to the company, the propulsion system problem “jeopardizes the spacecraft’s ability to make a soft landing on the Moon”.

The failure of NASA’s moon mission highlights how difficult it is to land on the moon, which ISRO achieved last year with Chandrayaan 3.

NASA gave both companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers. Astrobotic’s contract with NASA for the Peregrine lander was worth $108 million and there are more in the pipeline.

Astrobotic aimed to become the first private business to successfully land on the Moon, a feat accomplished by only four countries, including India, in 2023.

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Moon landing-success and failure

The moon landing has long been a series of setbacks and failures. Before the touchdown was aborted, the Soviet Union and the US made a series of successful Moon landings in the 1960s and 70s. China joined the elite club in 2013 and India in 2023.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which successfully landed near the Moon’s south pole in August 2023, was built and launched with a budget of $75 million. Chandrayaan-3 took 40 days to reach the Moon using a less powerful rocket and catapult method.

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Private missions from Israel and Japan, as well as a recent effort by the Russian space agency, have all failed — although Japan’s space agency is aiming for a mid-January touchdown of its SLIM lander, launched last September.

Controlled landings on the Moon are challenging, with about half of all attempts failing.

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In the absence of an environment that allows the use of parachutes, a spacecraft must navigate dangerous terrain using only its thrusters to make a slow descent.

soft landing of the moon

Soft landing is where a spacecraft descends in a controlled manner. The speed gradually decreases and the spacecraft will touch the surface at almost 0 speed.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 started descending from a height of 30 km at a speed of 1.68 km per hour but the speed dropped to zero as it reached near the lunar surface.

On December 4, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said it took Chandrayaan-3’s propulsion module out of lunar orbit and placed it above Earth for a bonus mission, where it now survives on leftover fuel.

ISRO has not disclosed what it plans to do with the spacecraft when it runs out of fuel.

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Published: 09 January 2024, 11:15 am IST