Pittsburgh's Lunar Lander Blasts Off For Moon

PITTSBURGH, PA — Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One blasted off for the moon on Monday and could become the first American lander to reach the moon's surface in more than 50 years.

Shortly after 2 a.m., the Peregrine lifted off on a Vulcan rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. After about 50 minutes, the lander separated from the the rocket to continue on its journey.

The Peregrine is expected to reach the moon on Feb. 23.

The Peregrine is the first launch under NASA’s commercial lunar payload services initiative. The mission is delivering scientific instruments and payloads to the moon’s Gruithuisen Domes region.

“Today, Peregrine Mission One achieved a number of big milestones,” Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said in a statement. “Peregrine powered on, acquired a signal with Earth, and is now moving through space on its way to the way to the moon."

The Peregrine is carrying 20 payloads from seven nations and commercial customers. The payloads come from space agencies, universities, companies, and individuals from across the world. Included are the first lunar surface payloads from the Mexican and German space
agencies and the first lunar payloads from the countries of the United Kingdom, Hungary and Seychelles.

One of the payloads, DHL MoonBox, contains mementos and messages from more than 100,000 people around the world.

The Peregrine was assembled at Astrobotic’s Pittsburgh headquarters and includes parts manufactured by 184 companies in Pennsylvania alone.