It’s official. Peregrine, the lunar lander made by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, will not be landing on the moon, thanks to a propellant leak that dramatically altered its course.
Peregrine’s manifest included 70 capsules filled with cremated remains or DNA, sent to space by Houston-based Celestis, a memorial spaceflight company that sells to loved ones of the deceased the packaging and transport of remains to space.
The Celestis mission was high profile because it included the ashes of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, among others.
The Peregrine lander left Earth on Jan. 8 traveling as payload in United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. If successful, its first mission would have put an American spacecraft on the moon for the first time in 50 years.
Instead, the lander and everything inside it will be lost. Astrobotic Technology announced Jan. 13 in a post on X that Peregrine likely will head toward Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. LiveScience.com reported that Peregrine will be extinguished by Jan. 18.
That’s tough news for some of the families that gathered for Celestis events in Cape Canaveral, Florida, last week.
Among those remains lost is Liam Anand, who in 2023 lost his life at age 16 in a motorbike accident, and Red Bull Aces wingsuit competitor Micah Couch, who died while BASE jumping in 2017 at age 33.
CEO and co-founder Charles Chafer of Celestis Inc. said that based on contractual language, Celestis’ obligation to its Tranquility Flight customers — the mission that was meant for the moon — is satisfied.
“Honestly, not everybody reads the contract, even if they sign it,” he said. “I think there were some people — maybe many people — who didn’t realize we've met the conditions of the contract. But we’re standing by to offer everybody space on our next flight, called Destiny, in 2025.”
Chafer said there are more cremated remains and DNA to source for round two.
"We are declaring the Tranquility Flight a success, which it is, according to what we tell people we will do in the contract," said Chafer. "But we’re sensitive to the fact that maybe we need to do a little better job of communicating. But again, it's spaceflight, and space is hard. We don't go in with any naive expectations."
Other customers of Celestis will still see their missions accomplished sooner.
When Vulcan Centaur launched, 264 capsules not transported by Peregrine headed to deep space. That mission was called the Enterprise Flight and included DNA from U.S. Presidents George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy plus a number of "Star Trek" alums.
