Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: Astrobotic

The upcoming liftoff of a Moon lander – the Peregrine Mission One – is a nail-bitter for many reasons. As a privately-built spacecraft it represents an undertaking advanced by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

That lunar lander is a product of tender loving care provided by Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based firm, packed with NASA and commercial payloads.

Yes, consider Pittsburgh as a gateway to the Moon – right up there with Houston’s Johnson Space Center and regular ear-splitting rumbles of rockets departing from California and Florida. At the Astrobotic headquarters there is an adjoining Moonshot Museum that offers the public first-hand looks at lunar lander development.

Moon lander to be launched by maiden flight of Vulcan booster.
Image credit: ULA/Astrobotic

Full stop

Peregrine Mission One will be hurled Moonward courtesy of the first takeoff of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.

The Moon lander is slated to come full stop in late February, firmly planting its legs at Sinus Viscositatis (Bay of Stickiness) adjacent to the Gruitheisen Domes. The touchdown target is on the northeast border of Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms).

For more information on this pioneering mission, go to my new Space.com story – “For Astrobotic, big risk (and bigger reward) ride on private Peregrine moon lander’s Jan. 8 launch – The Pittsburgh company aims to pull off the first-ever private moon landing” – at:

https://www.space.com/astrobotic-peregrine-private-moon-lander-risks-reward