More than 50 years ago, the United States landed on the moon for the first time. In January, a new moon lander is to take off towards space. But that is only the beginning.
At the end of January, more than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, a US spacecraft is scheduled to land on the moon for the first time. The project also serves as a preparation for the manned Artemis mission of the US space agency Nasa, which is planned for the coming years. The unmanned Mondlander Peregrine from the private space company Astrobotic is to be held on 25. January bring instruments to prepare for the moon, as Astrobotic head John Thornton announced on Wednesday.
With her mission Artemis 3, Nasa wants to bring US astronauts back to the moon for the first time in more than half a century. In preparation for the Artemis missions, NASA had contracts to a few years ago, which are intended to bring payloads such as scientific devices to the lunar surface. By working with commercial providers, NASA wants to save costs.
Mondmission: Start on 24. December in Florida
Astrobotic head Thornton told journalists that a moon landing to a “break” of costs offers is one of the “great challenges” of the project. So far, only half of the missions to the lunar surface have been successful, Thornton added. He will therefore “be enthusiastic and be enthusiastic” at every stage of the mission at the same time.
The start is for the 24. United Launch Alliance (ULA) planned in Florida in December with the new Vulcan Centaur rocket of the US aerospace and space giant Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The probe would reach a lunar orbit after just “some days”, explained Thornton. With the landing, however, she had to go until the 25th another 25th Wait on January because the lighting conditions are unfavourable before.
In the spring, the Japanese space industry had already tried to land on the moon as the first private company - the probe shattered on the moon's landing. In 2019, an Israeli mission had failed. So far, only the USA, Russia, China and most recently India have succeeded in landing on the Earth's satellite.
