Tag: astrobotic spacecraft

[ad_1] A crippling fuel leak forced a U.S. company on Tuesday to give up on landing a spacecraft on the moon.Astrobotic Technology's lander began losing fuel soon after Monday's launch, possibly because of a ruptured tank. The spacecraft had trouble keeping its solar panel pointed towards the sun and generating solar power, as flight controllers scrambled to salvage what they could of the mission. “Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the moon,” Astrobotic said in a statement. 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 ...