Two U.S. Companies Attempting To Send Rockets Back to the Moon

Two American companies will attempt to land on the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions, and the first attempt launched early Monday morning. 

Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology launched their lunar lander Monday morning and Houston-based Intuitive Machines launches in mid-February in tandem with a SpaceX flight, though both companies are aiming to land on the moon around the same time. Whichever company, if either, manages to safely land on the moon first will become the first private company in history to do so. 

“They’re scouts going to the moon ahead of us,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to the Associated Press. 

Astrobotic Technology’s rocket will take about two weeks to get to the moon after which it will orbit the moon for about a month before attempting to land. Intuitive Machines has more of a straight shot and should land within a week of liftoff, but it’s either company’s game here due to the nature of space travel to be subject to delays or unexpected issues. 

Neither company is bringing people on these missions, though NASA has expressed the desire to send people back to the moon in the near future. They currently have a manned mission slated for 2025 under their Artemis program but they have said it might be closer to 2027. The last two men to walk on the moon were Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission which marked the end of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as interest shifted away from space exploration due to the Vietnam War. 

As it turns out, landing a rocket ship or any kind of space-traveling vessel on the moon is very difficult to pull off without crashing, not to mention incredibly expensive. The moon has a very limited atmosphere so there’s nothing to slow the rockets down as they come in for landing, which also essentially makes it near-useless to try and use a parachute. Anything that wants to land on the moon has to navigate and slow itself down using thrusters, which is much more difficult than it might sound given the moon is full of giant cliffs and craters and such. Attempts to land on the moon made by Russia, India, an Israeli nonprofit and a private Japanese company have all resulted in crash landings in the past. 

“It’s going to be a wild, wild ride,” said Astrobotic’s chief executive John Thornton to the Associated Press

Both companies have received grants in the ballpark of $80 million from NASA to develop their rockets and get them to the moon. According to the Associated Press, the Astrobotics rocket is about six feet tall with four legs and will be aiming to land on an area of the moon called the Bay of Stickiness. The Intuitive Machines rocket will be about 14 feet tall with six legs and will be aiming for what can be described as the moon’s south pole. This area is almost always covered in shadows and is believed to hold billions of pounds of ice which could be used to provide water and make rocket fuel.

“It’s so rocky and craggy and full of craters at the south pole and mountainous, that it’s very difficult to find a lighted region to touch down safely,” said Intuitive Machines chief executive Steve Altemus to the Associated Press. “So you’ve got to be able to finesse that and just set it down right in the right spot.”

Unfortunately, the Astrobotics rocket which took off Monday morning may already be experiencing issues. The company released statements shortly after launch explaining that their Peregrine rocket may be experiencing propulsion issues which could jeopardize the success of the mission. 

“Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant. The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture,’’ Astrobotics said in a statement on their website. “We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time.”

The Astrobotic’s lander was carrying several experiments for NASA as well as the ashes of 70 people intended to be spread on the moon. According to the Associated Press, ashes or DNA from another 265 people were stored on the upper part of the rocket which was intended to circle the sun after separating from the lunar lander. 

Of those remains, ashes from three original Star Trek cast members and strands of hair from three U.S. presidents including George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy were all on board. It was not immediately clear what would happen to all these remains if the Astrobotic’s mission were to fail, nor has anyone offered a satisfactory explanation as to why or how we have hair from all those presidents just lying around still.