Equipment on board records data for scientists. The remaining life time of the device is about 48 hours
The Peregrine lunar lander, which launched Jan. 8 from Cape Canaveral on a Vulcan rocket, is still collecting data that could be useful to scientists. The creator of the device — private American company Astrobotic — reports that it has made every effort to maintain stable operation of Peregrine and provide power to the equipment on board. Now all scientific instruments — radiation detector, spectrometers, optical sensor and lidar — are operational and are successfully collecting data that will be useful for future lunar missions. Although, as NASA admitted, it will take time to decipher them.
The Peregrine module was to become the first American spacecraft in more than 50 years to reach the surface of the Moon, as well as the first privately owned spacecraft on the Earth's natural satellite. However, shortly after the launch, a fuel leak occurred, and the other day Astrobotic admitted that there was no chance of a soft lunar landing. Peregrine does not (by the way, it was only scheduled for February 23). At this point, the goal was to maximize the life of the module to collect useful information. The company said there is currently about 48 hours of fuel remaining, which is much more than originally expected (the leak rate has apparently slowed). But it’s still not enough for a soft landing on the Moon.
The Peregrine lander is carrying payload, including a miniature lunar rover, Iris, built by students at Carnegie Mellon University. He conveyed the message: «Hello, Earth!» — Astrobotic published data about this on its website. Also on Peregrine are robots from Mexico, a fragment of Everest, human DNA, messages from people around the world and capsules with human ashes as part of the space burial program implemented by the American company Celestis. Apparently, this cargo will never be delivered to the Moon.