A fuel leak caused a U.S. company to abandon its plans to land a spacecraft on the moon on Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The lander from Astrobotic Technology experienced fuel loss shortly after its launch on Monday, potentially due to a damaged tank. Flight controllers worked to salvage the mission as the spacecraft struggled to maintain its solar panel’s alignment with the sun for generating power.

According to a statement from Astrobotic, due to the propellant leak, a gentle landing on the moon is not possible.

Astrobotic had been targeting a lunar landing on Feb. 23, following a roundabout, fuel-efficient flight to the moon. It could have been the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years, and the first by a private company. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month.

There have only been four successful moon landings achieved by countries.

Astrobotic, a company based in Pittsburgh, stated that their revised objective is to prolong the operation of the lander in space as much as possible, in order to prevent a repeat occurrence during its next mission in approximately a year. The flight controllers successfully maintained the spacecraft’s alignment towards the sun and ensured that its battery remained fully charged, with an additional 40 hours of operations expected.

The corporation announced that an obstructed valve could have resulted in an influx of high-pressure helium into the oxidizer tank, ultimately causing it to rupture early on in the flight. A board of industry professionals will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the root cause.

According to the company, there is no evidence that the new Vulcan rocket from United Launch Alliance played a role in the issue that occurred during the launch of the lander.

The commercial lunar program of NASA involved paying Astrobotic $108 million to transport their experiments to the moon on this particular mission.

___

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group provides support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. The AP holds full responsibility for all of its content.

Source: wral.com