For the first time in more than 40 years, NASA is once again overseeing a mission to land on the Moon.
A groundbreaking moment in lunar exploration unfolded on Monday morning (January 8) as a towering new rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This historic mission carries the Peregrine lander, which could become the first commercial lander to touch down on the Moon - which would, in turn, mark the United States' first lunar landing mission since 1972.
Developed by United Launch Alliance - a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin - the Vulcan Centaur rocket took flight at 2:18AM ET on Monday.
After almost an hour in space, the rocket separated from the Peregrine spacecraft, sending it on a trajectory toward the Moon's surface, with an expected landing date of February 23 if all goes as planned.
The Peregrine lander was created by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology under a contract with NASA, which contributed $108 million for its development and to transport NASA's science experiments to the moon, per CNN.
However, NASA is just one of many customers for this mission, as Peregrine will carry 20 payloads to the moon, including five NASA science instruments and others from various customers, including additional science payloads, robotics experiments, and even trinkets and mementos.
One noteworthy aspect of this mission is that Peregrine is carrying human remains on behalf of two commercial space burial companies, Elysium Space and Celestis. This has raised opposition from the Navajo Nation, the largest group of Native Americans in the United States, who consider the Moon sacred and view landing human remains on it as disrespectful.
Celestis offers to transport ashes to the moon at prices starting at over $10,000.
Onboard are the partial remains of more than 300 people, including famous figures like former US presidents George Washington and JFK.
Currently, 62 capsules containing the remains have been placed within a 6-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide device known as the Peregrine Lunar Lander. Once on the moon, it will be left to create a "permanent memorial" on the lunar surface.
The remaining 268 capsules will continue their journey over 185 million miles into deep space, where they will "orbit the sun forever," according to Celestis CEO and Co-founder Charles Chafer.
Additionally, the five NASA-sponsored experiments on Peregrine include instruments to monitor the radiation environment and analyze the lunar soil for water and hydroxyl molecules.
NASA will also study the moon's extremely thin atmosphere.
The Apollo-era astronaut Philip Chapman, who was selected for the astronaut corps in 1967 but never flew to space and passed away in 2021, is among those whose remains are on the Enterprise Flight. This payload is destined for deep space, where it will orbit the sun for eternity, marking a poignant moment in the convergence of space exploration and memorialization.
I guess you really can call it their "final frontier".
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