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Sorry, please use a different browser. Close The first civilian lunar lander is on the verge of failure… “A serious fuel leak has occurred”
[앵커]
The world’s first private lunar lander has left Earth as planned, but the journey doesn’t appear to be going smoothly.
The rocket carrying the lander was reported to have a serious fuel leak problem.
This is reporter Lee Chi-dong.
[기자]
The United States attempted to explore the lunar surface for the first time in half a century, but was on the verge of failure.
The new ‘Vulcan Centaur’ rocket carrying the Peregrine, the first lunar lander developed by a private company, took off from the Florida space base, but a series of technical problems arose.
Developer Astrobotic reported that seven hours after launch, it was discovered that the lander’s solar panel was not properly oriented towards the sun.
The technical team managed to get the solar panel working, but this time a major fuel leak was confirmed due to problems with the propulsion system.
It is unclear whether the unmanned Peregrine lander will be able to arrive at the lava field northeast of the Sea of Storms on the front of the Moon on the 23rd of next month as planned and begin its mission.
The developer said, “We are looking at alternatives to see what missions are possible in the current state.”
“There is so much to do. There are scientific questions that scientists in the United States and around the world have wanted to solve for decades by returning to the lunar surface.”
51 years have passed since the Apollo 17 lunar mission with which the United States undertook the exploration of the lunar surface.
NASA, the US space agency, paid 108 million dollars, or about 140 billion won, to Astrobotic for the transportation of exploration equipment.
As the race to land on the Moon heats up among major countries, the United States is putting private space companies boasting technological innovation and cost savings at the forefront.
We plan to send four more private lunar probes this year alone.
To date, the only countries other than the United States to have successfully landed on the Moon are Russia, China and India.
About half of humanity’s attempts to explore the Moon have ended in failure.
This is Lee Chi-dong from Yonhap News. (lcd@yna.co.kr)
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