an “anomaly” occurred on the private American device en route to the Moon

A “anomaly” encountered in flight threatens the mission of the first American device to attempt to land on the Moon in more than 50 years, the Astrobotic company that developed it announced on Monday, January 8. He had toand land on the Moon on February 23.

The lander took off before dawn on Monday from Florida, aboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from the ULA group, which brings together Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The device, named Peregrinewas powered up shortly after separating from the rocket, and communication could be successfully established.

A problem that jeopardizes the mission

But “Unfortunately, an anomaly occurred that prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable orientation facing the Sun,” explained the company in a statement on “in order to allow maximum electricity production”according to company documentation.

In a second statement, Astrobotic explained that the issue was a result of “probably” a problem with the propulsion system. “If that is the case”, that “will jeopardize the spacecraft’s ability to land on the Moon”said the company, which specifies that the batteries of the machine were already reaching “low operational levels”.