Photos of the Day: Astrobotic's Peregrine Has Received a Meatball for Its Mission...

NASA / Isaac Watson

NASA Logo Installed on Lander for First Robotic Artemis Moon Flight (News Release)

Teams have installed the NASA meatball logo onboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis program ahead of its upcoming launch on December 24 from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Peregrine will carry NASA payloads to a mare – an ancient hardened lava flow – outside of the Gruithuisen Domes, a geologic enigma along the mare/highlands boundary on the northeast border of Oceanus Procellarum, or Ocean of Storms, the largest dark spot on the Moon. The payloads will investigate the lunar exosphere, thermal properties of the lunar regolith, hydrogen abundances in the soil at the landing site, magnetic fields and conduct radiation environment monitoring.

After arriving on October 30 at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams with Astrobotic and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are finishing final preparations before they integrate Peregrine with ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

While NASA is the primary customer purchasing lunar delivery services, CLPS vendors also work with other customers to send non-NASA payloads to the Moon. CLPS providers are responsible for managing their activities to ensure that they are compliant with NASA schedule requirements.

Astrobotic will keep the agency informed of the launch date, lunar landing date and duration of lunar surface operations, as well as provide updates on the temperature that the payloads will experience during transit to the Moon and at the lunar South Pole.

A successful landing will help prove the CLPS model for commercial payload deliveries to the lunar surface. As a CLPS customer, NASA is investing in lower-cost methods of regular Moon deliveries and aims to be one of many customers onboard CLPS flights.

The robotic deliveries will help deliver agency science and technology demonstrations to the Moon for the benefit of all.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Isaac Watson


NASA / Isaac Watson


NASA / Isaac Watson

Here's a video of Peregrine receiving the Meatball at Astrotech...

📸: NASA/Frank Michaux#Astrobotic #CountdownToVulcan #ToTheMoon pic.twitter.com/PhhoC5aUVN

— Rich Par (@AstroPnoy) November 16, 2023