ANALYSIS – A robotic lander built by private company, Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, on behalf of NASA, is attempting to make the first U.S. lunar soft landing in half a century. This, following its launch aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket fired from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
And among its otherwise varied scientific payloads are human remains of people who wished to be left on the Moon.
The launch was flawless, and the spacecraft separated 50 minutes into the flight; its systems powered on successfully. However, a few hours later, Astrobotic reported a problem that prevented the spacecraft, known as Peregrine, from keeping itself in a steady orientation pointed at the sun.
The problem could prevent the spacecraft's solar arrays from generating sufficient power to operate normally. But Peregrine is not scheduled to enter lunar orbit for two-and-a-half weeks, offering time for engineers to diagnose and potentially fix the problem.
If the problem is solved, and everything else goes as planned, Peregrine would be the first U.S. soft landing on the moon since the Apollo 17 landing in 1972.
It would also mark an elusive feat, the first-ever lunar landing by a private company.
Still, as The Blaze reported: “While many have lauded this testament to the indefatigable nature of American ingenuity and curiosity, an American Indian group raised a last-minute stink over the long-known destination of the ship's inert [or deceased] crewmembers.”
The Blaze added:“The Navajo Nation claimed ahead of the launch that the release of the human remains currently onboard the ship onto the lunar surface will amount to a sacrilege.”
It explained:
The Vulcan Centaur carried two payloads into space: Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services initiative, headed for the moon; and the Celestis Memorial Spaceflights deep space Voyager mission, known as the Enterprise Flight. Human remains are contained in both payloads.
The Blaze continued:
The Enterprise Flight contains the cremated remains or DNA of hundreds of individuals including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Roddenberry; “Star Trek” actors DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and their heroic World War II veteran co-star James Doohan; Apollo 14 mission scientist Phil Chapman; and painter Luise Clayborn Kaish.
Unlike the 268 titanium capsules set to drift aimlessly through the cosmos, over 60 capsules containing DNA or cremated remains will be dumped on the northeastern part of the moon via the Peregrine lander “as a permanent tribute to the intrepid souls who never stopped reaching for the stars,” according to the company's website.
Celestis CEO Charles Chafer told CNN:
We reject the assertion that our memorial spaceflight mission desecrates the moon. Just as permanent memorials for deceased are present all over planet Earth and not considered desecration, our memorial on the moon is handled with care and reverence, is a permanent monument that does not intentionally eject flight capsules on the moon. It is a touching and fitting celebration for our participants — the exact opposite of desecration, it is a celebration.
Celestis added:
No one, and no religion, owns the moon. If the beliefs of the world's multitude of religions were considered, it's quite likely that no missions would ever be approved. Simply put, we do not and never have let religious beliefs dictate humanity's space efforts. There is not and should not be a religious test.
Meanwhile, the race continues for others to launch gigantic rockets into space in 2024, primarily into Earth's orbit.
As Yahoo News reported, several new European and American rockets will make their maiden flights this year while the aerospace industry faces a shortage of launch vehicles.
The European Space Agency's Ariane 6 rocket is set to make its inaugural voyage between June 15 and July 31 after four years of delays. In addition to its scientific payloads, onboard will be Europe's hopes for space autonomy from the U.S. and Russia.
With 28 launches planned even before its first flight, the rocket, available in two versions, Ariane 62 and Ariane 64, will carry payloads to both geostationary orbits and low Earth orbits.
“It is a real industrial challenge to go from building two to nine launchers per year,” said Ariane Group's executive president, Martin Sion.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) has developed the Vulcan Centaur rocket to replace its Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles.Around 90 per cent of the Vulcan Centaur systems are derived from Atlas and Delta.
“This new rocket enables us to launch the entire market segment for all sizes of satellites from large government and commercial satellites to small satellites,” said Tory Bruno, President and CEO of ULA.
SpaceX will continue to test its Starship mega-rocket in 2024, while Blue Origin will debut its New Glenn launcher. New Glenn is also a key component of the lunar landing system for NASA's Artemis 5 lunar mission planned for 2025.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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