Astrobotic remains upbeat about its Peregrine lunar lander, despite the failure of the probe's debut mission.
Peregine launched Jan. 8 on the first flight of United Launch Alliance's (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket. While the launch went smoothly, Peregrine suffered a propulsion anomaly just hours into its mission that created a significant propellant leak. It soon became clear that Peregrine would not reach the moon and would fall back to Earth, and the lander eventually reentered the atmosphere and broke up over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday (Jan. 18). Astrobotic kept the public informed throughout the mission, posting updates multiple times a day about how the hobbled Peregrine lander was faring.
