ULA Vulcan launch 7:18 am BE-4 engine and Peregrine moon lander.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.space.com/vulcan-centaur-launch-peregrine-moon-lander-webcast

We'll find out tomorrow (maybe) if Boeing and Lockheed Martin made the right choice in choosing Bezos' BE-4 over Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 for the rocket to replace Atlas and Delta. Hint : Rocketdyne have way more experience but BE4 was cheaper even though it's being made by a direct competitor.

Capt'n Midnight

The relief was palpable as United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched the first of its next-generation Vulcan rockets.

But the payload has problems Problems began, however, when the spacecraft failed to orient its solar panels toward the Sun. Mission control adjusted the craft's position, allowing Peregrine's batteries to begin charging, but, with a lack of propellant and the unspecified propulsion system flaw, the lander probably won't be able to attempt a soft touchdown on the Moon.

josip

So are they going to repurpose a lander than cannot land to an orbiter that wasn't designed to do anything from orbit. At least if they hard landed they would be able to claim success in putting the remains of the various customers on the moon.

Shlippery

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121594671#Comment_121594671

https://twitter.com/astrobotic - they've been quite transparent on twitter with frequent updates, doesn't sound ideal - not sure if they'll be able to get it to smash into the moon. They also said Vulcan behaved as expected, so they're not blaming them at all!

https://twitter.com/astrobotic/status/1744835489838854215/photo/1

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121594671#Comment_121594671

65 years ago, back in January '59, Luna 1 missed the moon and got renamed to Mechta "dream" as it was the first spacecraft to reach Escape Velocity and leave the Earth's gravity well. Still out there, somewhere.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.astrobotic.com/update-10-for-peregrine-mission-one/

https://www.astrobotic.com/category/press/

"We currently estimate that the spacecraft has about 48 hours of propellant remaining, which is a significant improvement from yesterday."