BREAKING: Will the Anomaly on the Peregrine Lunar Lander Affect Celestis' Enterprise Mission?

The first image of the Peregrine Lunar Lander from space. Image: Astrobotic via X.

Last year we brought you the news that Celestis, Inc., a memorial spaceflight service championed by the late Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, was sending the remains of Barrett-Roddenberry, her husband, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and a host of other Trek luminaries, including DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Nichelle Nichols, into the Final Frontier. Dubbed the “Enterprise” mission, the Vulcan Centaur rocket carrying the remains finally launched on Monday after numerous delays. But the mission may yet be endangered.

Along for the ride was Astrobotic’s Peregrine moon lander, tasked with delivering five payloads to the Moon, aiming to locate water molecules, measure radiation and gases, and evaluate the layer of gases on the Moon’s surface, known as the lunar exosphere. It was to be the first Moon landing in hald a century. But shortly after launch, something went wrong. According to Astrobotic shortly after the successful launch an anomaly occurred which prevented the lander from orienting correctly and preventing the Sun from charging its battery.

Things only got worse when communication with the lander was lost, although the blackout only lasted a short time. With a critical loss of propellant imminent, the ground crew began to prioritize saving what scientific data they could. Ultimately, they were able to charge the battery and take a first photograph from the lander, which gave them a new clue about what was going on.

Update #5 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/94wy2J0GyA

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 8, 2024

Whether the Peregrine lander will actually be able to deliver its payload and how this accident may affect the mission going forward, is unclear. Since it had disconnected from the rocket carrying the Celestis portion of the mission before things went south, however, the Enterprise Mission will continue as planned.

DSTN interviewed people connected to the Enterprise mission and its passengers last year, including Rod Roddenberry, Kelley’s friend Kris Smith, and Doohan’s widow Wende. You can download and listen to all of the Celestis interviews wherever you get your podcasts.