The United States launched the first commercial lunar mission – Kommersant
[ad_1]
On Monday, January 8, at 10:18 Moscow time, the Vulcan launch vehicle of the American corporation United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, was launched from Cape Canaveral. This launch was historic for the United States on several counts.
The launch of Vulcan is the first launch from US soil as part of a lunar mission since 1972. The rocket, developed by ULA, will carry Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, developed with support from NASA, to the Moon. If all goes according to plan, the device should land on the lunar surface on February 23. There it will have up to 10 days to carry out all planned operations, after which the landing zone will be in the shadow side of the Moon, and the temperature will be too low for the device to continue to function.
Today’s launch is the first commercial lunar mission in US history. Peregrine will carry not only NASA scientific equipment to the Moon, but also 15 payloads from other clients. Among them, for example, are the ashes of the creator of the original Star Trek television series Gene Roddenberry, his wife and son, as well as actors James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols, who played in the series, and DNA samples of former US presidents John F. Kennedy, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower.
Finally, Vulcan became the first American launch vehicle without Russian engines. The Russian RD-180, which has been used on American Atlas and Delta rockets for the past 20 years, is being replaced by Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine, for which this launch was the first successful.
[ad_2]
Source link
