COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH
Monday January 8th, 2:18am EST
I’m taking a nap today so I can stay up for the launch!
There is nothing not cool about this piece of paper.
The imminent launch has me thinking back to the beginning…
The instant I was aware I could buy a payload aboard the first American lunar lander to return to the Moon in 50 years, I slammed down my money and said OH HECK YEAH!
It was the depths of the summer of 2020, and this was a wonderful spark of hope in the dark. Once I realized my little hexagonal payload could carry an SD card… one that vastly exceeded the space needed to carry my entire catalog (dozens of novels across two pennames), that’s when the idea of Writers on the Moon was born.
I got distracted by other things and it took me a minute to get ready—I needed to set up a website and have a plan for selecting and bringing on board many other authors and their works. The world was drenched in chaos—and the Jan. 6th insurrection was yet still to come—but that only meant we needed hope more than ever.
The original idea had also gestated into something solid in my mind.
This time capsule was a gesture of hope, a declaration of belief in the future, and a tangible connection between ordinary folks on Earth and one of the greatest adventures humans have ever attempted: space exploration (and science).
It was a fervent statement that those things mattered, even in the darkest of times. Especially then.
What I didn’t expect (but should have seen coming) was the incredible JOY and EXCITEMENT that created.
Our original landing site (Lacus Mortis) has been changed to the Gruithuisen Domes.
The original 50 slots went FAST. But everyone worked together and got their payloads in fast enough that (with the help of my assistant Noelle), I felt confident we could open it up to all 125 writers who had applied before I shut down the open call… and we could still meet our March 1st deadline for delivering the payload to Astrobotic.
IT WAS TIGHT.
Partly because the project grew, taking on a life of its own: people brought anthologies (“unofficial stowaways”), I selected some official stowaways, and I encouraged people to use their full digital space with pictures and stories behind the stories to tell who they were as people, not just as artists and storytellers.
Because that’s what this was about: the hope of humans in 2021, sending a love letter to the future.
More add ons: My husband (the moon-rover designer) use his tech skills to quick-manufacture MoonChips (a hexagonal chip for the payload with our logo and website, as well as replicas for the humans on Earth). I stitched together a tiny archival-quality paper book with every Manifest author’s name, all of which miraculously fit in the payload space with the two (duplicate) SDcards. The MoonChip and the mini-book were backups — anyone opening the capsule would understand what was contained within and have a pointer to the ultimate backup (the website) on Earth. (One I’ve instructed my heirs to keep maintaining in perpetuity.)
Final Payload, dime for scale; no, we did not fly a dime to the Moon.
With the payload shipped to Astrobotic… we took a break for a while. Then I collected up mementos for the Manifest authors all over the world: a MoonChip, a Manifest certificate, and beautiful for-fun boarding passes crafted by our own Manifest Author #107 Angie Arland! A few people even got mission patches from Astrobotic.
It was all done except for the launch… (and Sue updating the website which took WAY longer than it should have, apologies, but it is done now).
ALMOST THREE YEARS LATER...
Peregrine has been ready for some time, with our Moonbox loaded and the spacecraft waiting at Astrobotic* for its brand-new rocket (ULA’s Vulcan Centaur) to get through its paces and be ready for launch.
*if you ever get to Pittsburgh (please say Hi!), I highly recommend a visit to the Moonshot Museum, attached to Astrobotic’s cleanroom so you can see the spacecraft assembly.
Peregrine at Astrobotic (above); the MoonBox being assembled (below).
Somehow, that piece of paper from the beginning got even cooler.
THAT’S OUR PAYLOAD! With the actual 3D-printed space-ready hexagonal payload container stacked with our 2 SDcards, the mini book, and our hexagonal metal MoonChip.
HECK YEAH.
AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR LAUNCH
“Excited” really doesn’t cover it. Elated, perhaps. Cautiously hopeful and a little anxiety ridden, definitely. After all, we’re not on the Moon yet.
Here is the top of the ULA rocket where they loaded in Peregrine. It’s hard to see because everything is covered in MLI (multi layer insulation) to keep it warm but our moonbox (which contains all the DHL Moonbox payloads) is tucked on the bottom, actually bolted to the underside, near the strut.
The cool thing about this is the positioning relative to Camera C. So when we’re on the moon, our MoonBox will actually be seen hanging from the bottom of Peregrine with the moon in the background!
And now we’re here… at the Cape… with the ULA Vulcan Centaur loaded onto the pad…
GODSPEED, PEREGRINE!
You’ve already touched a lot of lives before even leaving the ground.
HOW TO WATCH THE LAUNCH
OPTION 1: Watch on NASA TV
OPTION 2: Writers on the Moon Discord Launch Party (streaming NASA TV)
What if we don't launch on Monday?
It’s still possible the launch could be delayed. There are additional launch windows on the 9th (0:11am), 10th (0:16am), and 11th (0:17am ET). If we miss those, there are other windows on Jan 23. All of those windows allow Peregrine time to get to the Moon with minimum fuel usage and still arrive at the beginning of the Lunar Day (which is important for science).
It’s of course possible that something can go wrong. This is a new rocket, indeed the certification flight for the Vulcan Centaur. “No private company has ever achieved a soft landing on the moon or any other celestial body.” It could blow up on the launch pad. It could have problems at max q or main engine cutoff or the separation of the rocket stages. We should know in the first few minutes if things are going well; within an hour, Peregrine will be launched from the ULA rocket and heading toward the Moon on its own.
If the worst happens and our payload is lost, and if I have an opportunity to buy another payload, I will absolutely do that. I would do all of this again in a heartbeat.
But with any luck, we’ll very soon be on our way to the Moon!
In Hope and Peace,
Sue
OTHER COOL STUFF
“Final preparations are under way at Cape Canaveral in Florida for a milestone mission to put a US lander on the moon, an achievement not seen in more than 50 years since the end of the Apollo project.”
This is soo phenomenal. Brings tears to my eyesSue. Your mom must be cheering you on in a very special seat waiting for the launch
This is sooo phenomenal Sue. Brings tears to my eyes. You And Kerry are brilliant. I’m sure your mom has a special seat waiting for the launch ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🤩🤩🤩
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