The Vulcan rocket with the Peregrine spacecraft launched in the United States for landing on the Moon

WASHINGTON, January 8. The Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle launched in Florida with the Peregrine spacecraft, which is supposed to land on the Moon, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is broadcasting live.
The rocket was launched from the cosmodrome at Cape Canaveral at the estimated 02.18 (10.18 Moscow time). This is the first test flight of the launch vehicle developed since 2014. Vulcan is expected to replace the currently used ULAs on the Russian RD-180-powered Atlas V launch vehicle, as well as the Delta IV and Delta Heavy.
On its first certification flight, Vulcan will launch the Peregrine lunar landing vehicle, which is being developed by private company Astrobotic under a contract with NASA, into a high elliptical orbit. The craft, equipped with five NASA research instruments, is expected to land in the Sinus Viscositatis region of the Moon on February 23. According to NASA's description, the lunar landing zone is «adjacent to the Gruethuisen Domes, located in the northeastern part of the Ocean of Storms.» NASA formulates the mission's scientific objectives as «studying the lunar exosphere, the thermal properties and hydrogen content of lunar regolith, magnetic fields and radiation conditions.» For this purpose, infrared and neural spectrometers developed by NASA, as well as an instrument for measuring radiation levels, should be delivered to the surface of the Moon. Initially, the space agency planned to send twice as many of its developments to the surface of the Moon, but in November last year abandoned some of them due to concerns about the success of the mission to land the vehicle on the Moon.

In addition to the payload from NASA's Peregrine, designed to deliver up to 90 kilograms of cargo to the lunar surface, is carrying capsules there from the ritual company Celestis. It offers services for sending the ashes of earthlings into space and in 1999 carried out the first and so far only delivery of the ashes of the American scientist Eugene Shoemaker to the Moon. The Navajo Indians tried to prevent the launch of new remains of earthlings to the Moon, declaring the sacred status of the Moon for their culture and traditions, but their claims were not heard. NASA stated that the mission is commercial in nature.