An “anomaly” was discovered on the American lunar lander sent into space

An “anomaly” occurred during the American private lunar landing flight that took off earlier on Monday, January 8, according to the Astrobotic company that developed it. It said it was working “in real time” to solve the problem.

“Unfortunately, An anomaly has occurred“This prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable orientation facing the sun,” the startup announced. The lander, the first American device to attempt a landing on the moon in more than 50 years, includes: Solar panels that must be directed toward the sun “In order to allow maximum electrical output,” according to company documents.

The electricity generated is used “to charge batteries and maintain landing gear and cargo operations,” as these same documents specify.

The vehicle took off before dawn on Monday, January 8, from Florida. On board a new rocket from the ULA group. The device, called Peregrine, was turned on shortly after it separated from the rocket, and contact was successfully made. “After activating the propulsion system, Peregrine entered a fully operational state,” Astrobotic explained. The company says the problem appeared later.

“Teams are responding in real time as the situation evolves, and will provide more information as data is acquired and analyzed,” the company said. If Astrobotic can land on the moon as planned on February 23, it could become the first company to achieve this feat.

In a second statement, Astrobotic explained that the problem was “most likely” caused by a problem with the propulsion system. If so, this “threatens the spacecraft’s ability to land on the Moon,” the company said, explaining that the vehicle’s batteries have already reached “low operational levels.”

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