The lunar lander may have crashed into the ocean near New Zealand

The Peregrine lander was launched last week. A fuel leak occurred after take off. Due to this the ship could not reach the moon. Peregrine still flew toward the moon's orbit. He then returned to Earth as planned. The intention was that Earth's gravity would give the craft the final push to cross the Moon.

Instead, it was decided to crash the lander into Earth. This should prevent pollution of the place. That's why air traffic control turned on the engines. With the last remaining fuel, 23 thrusts were given and it left orbit towards the Moon and headed towards the Pacific Ocean.

Fireball

The lander will enter the atmosphere around 10pm Dutch time on Thursday evening. He then turns into a giant fireball.

The Peregrine One mission was a test flight. Astrobotic plans to conduct future commercial flights to the Moon in support of US lunar missions. Trips to the moon are particularly difficult. No spacecraft has managed to land on the moon in a controlled manner. Only the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India achieved this.

As the spacecraft return to Earth in a controlled manner, they are dumped in the Pacific Ocean. This usually happens in a different part of the ocean between New Zealand and Chile. The nearest islands are thousands of kilometers away and are uninhabited. The place is known as the 'spacecraft graveyard'.