NASA are set to launch an area shuttle on Christmas Eve that may take the primary US lander to the moon in additional than half a century.

Preparations have begun at Cape Canaveral in Florida for take off in only a few weeks, with the mission marking an enormous change for NASA.

The organisation have handed over management to Astrobotic who will deal with the spacecraft's launch and touchdown.

Peregrine Mission 1, named after the quickest animal on Earth, will launch at 6.50am UK time on a week-long journey to the moon.

It will enter area on the brand new Vulcan rocket. The mission is the primary of the fleet of personal spacecraft sure for the moon after NASA launched a brand new initiative.

The company is funding companies to construct spacecraft and ship cargo to varied websites on the lunar floor, with the intention of getting tools to the moon earlier than astronauts land there in just a few years.

The Peregrine mission will carry 5 Nasa payloads to measure radiation, floor and subsurface water, and the skinny layer of lunar fuel referred to as the exosphere.

But not everyone seems to be a fan of the brand new initiative, with scientists having different plans for the moon's floor.

Richard Green, an astronomer on the University of Arizona, informed The Guardian: "There are all these legitimate activities on the moon that are completely incompatible with each other.

"Mining is totally incompatible with having an undisturbed scientific website, and equally in case you are touchdown and taking off, that kicks up an excessive amount of particles."

Scientists are hoping to look at the lunar ice and different supplies earlier than it's disturbed or polluted.