America’s First Moon Lander in More Than 50 Yrs to be Launched Today

After a gap of almost five decades, an American spacecraft will travel to the surface of the moon. The ‘Peregrine’ lander, developed by a Pittsburgh-based company called Astrobotic, is scheduled to be launched into space on Monday at 2:18 a.m.

”NASA will kick off 2024 by sending five payloads to the Moon aboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One. The inaugural launch under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative will blast off Monday, Jan. 8, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket,” as per a NASA press release.

”The suite of NASA payloads aboard Peregrine One will aim to locate water molecules on the Moon, measure radiation and gases around the lander, and evaluate the lunar exosphere (the thin layer of gases on the Moon’s surface). These measurements will improve our understanding of how solar radiation interacts with the lunar surface,” NASA added.

Peregrine will touch down on the lunar surface at Sinus Viscositatis, or Bay of Stickiness, on February 23.

As per CBS News, Peregrine is carrying international payloads, including six NASA instruments and a sensor valued at $108 million. It will transport a shoebox-sized rover built by Carnegie Mellon University, with a physical Bitcoin, and cremated remains and DNA, including those of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, legendary sci-fi author and scientist Arthur C. Clarke, and a dog. Other items also include personal mementos, artwork, and letters from children worldwide.