First American Lunar Lander Since Apollo Blasts Off

For the first time in over half a century, America is on its way to the moon’s surface. 

Just after 2 a.m., a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral. Aboard was Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, the first American-made lander since the Apollo missions.

It shared the rocket with another payload: space burial company Celestic Inc. has booked passage for a capsule carrying DNA from several former presidents and the cast of Star Trek. While the lander is loaded with five NASA scientific instruments, designed to analyze the lunar soil for water and other chemical properties as well as measure radiation levels, it was made by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic. That makes the mission the first commercial voyage to the moon’s surface in history. 

While unmanned, the Peregrine marks an important step towards some of NASA’s loftiest goals: the space agency is planning to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972’s Apollo 17 late next year. Also on the agenda are long-term, permanently staffed moon bases. 

But Peregrine has a long way to go before it touches moon dust: it will spend several weeks traveling 290,000 miles through space and will then orbit the moon for several days before attempting a landing on Feb. 23.

The launch was originally scheduled for Christmas Day but was delayed after issues during a test.