private mission – pressnews

[ad_1] In a big setback for US space agency NASA, a historic private mission to land on the Moon was facing near-certain failure Monday after the spacecraft suffered a "critical loss" of fuel, in a major blow to America's hopes of placing its first robot on the lunar surface in five decades.Fixed to the top of United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan rocket, which was making its first flight, Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander blasted off overnight from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, then successfully separated from its launch vehicle. A few hours later, Astrobotic began reporting technical troubles, starting with an inability to orient Peregrine's top-mounted solar panel towards the Sun and keep its onboard battery topped up, due to a malfunction in its propulsion system. Th...

[ad_1] A SpaceX capsule carrying two Saudi astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Monday, as part of a private mission chartered by Axiom Space.Rayyanah Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go into space, and Ali Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, are the first two people from their country to go to the orbital outpost. "It was a lovely ride," said mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who made the voyage three times in the past, adding: "It was the softest docking I've ever felt." The fourth crew member is American businessman John Shoffner.About two hours after docking, the capsule's hatch will be opened to allow the four to enter the ISS, where they will join the seven astronauts already on board (three Russians, three America...

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Setback for NASA as Private US lunar lander facing failure after ‘critical loss’ of fuel

Private mission with Saudi astronauts docks with ISS