00:00 A towering new rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, has taken flight from Cape Canaveral Space
00:08 Force Station in Florida, carrying what could be America's first commercial lander to
00:14 touch down on the Moon since 1972.
00:17 Developed by United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture by Boeing and Lockheed
00:22 Martin, the Vulcan Centaur rode to life at 2.18am ET on Monday.
00:28 The never-before-flown model soared through space for nearly an hour, expending its fuel.
00:34 The rocket is propelling the lunar lander Peregrine on its way to the Moon.
00:38 Just after 3.00am ET, the Peregrine spacecraft separated from the rocket, embarking on its
00:43 slow journey to the lunar surface.
00:45 If all goes according to plan, the lander is expected to touch down on the Moon on February
00:50 23.
00:51 The Peregrine lander, developed by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology under a contract
00:57 with NASA, carries a total of 22 payloads to the Moon.
01:01 Of these, five are NASA science instruments, and the other 15 come from a diverse range
01:06 of customers.
01:07 Astrobotic's CEO expressed his excitement during a webcast of the launch, highlighting
01:12 the 16-year journey to this groundbreaking moment.
01:15 NASA, which paid Astrobotic $108 million for the development of Peregrine and the lunar
01:21 mission, has sponsored five experiments on board.
01:24 These include instruments to monitor the radiation environment, analyze the lunar soil for water
01:29 and hydroxyl molecules, and study the Moon's super-thin atmosphere.
01:33 However, the mission is not without controversy.
01:36 Peregrine is carrying human remains on behalf of commercial space burial companies Elysium
01:41 Space and Celestis.
01:43 This has sparked opposition from the Navajo Nation, which is the largest group of Native
01:48 Americans in the United States, who consider the Moon sacred.
01:52 The Vulcan Centaur rocket, in addition to carrying Peregrine, also launched another
01:56 payload from Celestis.
01:57 Dubbed the Enterprise Flight, it contains 265 capsules with human remains, including
02:03 DNA samples from former U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, George Washington, and Dwight
02:08 Eisenhower.
02:09 The payload, headed for deep space, will spend eternity orbiting the Sun.
02:14 The success of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket marks a significant event in the launch history.
02:19 If the mission is successful, it could be a game-changer for United Launch Alliance
02:23 or ULA and the broader space exploration landscape.
02:26 Stay tuned for further updates on this historic lunar mission.
02:29 [music]
