Pittsburgh, prepare for liftoff.
That's the message being transmitted by North Side-based Astrobotic Technology Inc. and NASA as the two organizations prepare for the inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's from there that ULA's rocket will transport Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander to space beginning around 2:18 a.m. on Jan. 8.
After reaching space, Peregrine will travel on its own for about a month and a half before it reaches the moon, where it's expected to touch down on Feb. 23 if all goes according to plan.
The launch time and anticipated lunar landing in February are the most specific details that have been shared thus far for a mission that's been years in the making and one that's been subject to numerous delays, though much of those delays as of late came from ULA following a series of testing anomalies throughout last year.
To prepare for the nearing launch, NASA will offer a science media briefing on Jan. 4 with members from the organization's various space-related departments as part of its prelaunch coverage. It will then broadcast a media teleconference at 3 p.m. on Jan. 5 to discuss lunar delivery readiness for the launch.
Coverage of the launch itself, to be streamed on the NASA app, website, NASA+ and NASA TV, will begin at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 8.
“In this golden era of exploration, NASA is working with partners like Astrobotic to do what’s never been done before — successfully landing American commercial payloads on the lunar surface. NASA’s [Commercial Lunar Payload Services] missions will deepen our understanding of the moon and help develop the tools and technologies to take humanity’s next giant leap: Sending the first humans to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an email statement to Pittsburgh Inno last April.
If successful, Peregrine will be the first private spacecraft to land on the lunar surface, a feat made possible as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and due to the efforts of Astrobotic's roughly 200-person Pittsburgh workforce. This mission is already one of the first of what is expected to be many missions from NASA's Artemis program, an endeavor looking to reestablish humanity's presence on the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions that ended in the early 1970s.
“We’re a 16-year overnight success story,” John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic, told Pittsburgh Inno last April. “And space companies are not supposed to succeed in Pittsburgh. If you start a space company, you’re supposed to be in Florida or Texas or California, and you’re supposed to have a billionaire behind you. We didn’t have any of that. We’re starting in a non-fertile ground here in Pittsburgh, and we did it anyway. … Pittsburgh is quite literally leading our nation back to the surface of the moon, and that’s something the whole city should be proud of.”
