How This British Girl, 10, Got A Chance To Send Time Capsule To Moon

A 10-year-old girl from Leicester, England got the momentous opportunity to contribute a time capsule for a rocket headed to the moon. The Vulcan Centaur, the United States' first commercial space project to the lunar orbit, took off on January 8 from Florida. Elizabeth Norman, a space aficionado and school-going girl made a model of the rocket at home and launched it 30 feet into the air a few years ago. This backyard project was posted and widely shared on social media, which caught the eye of scientists at the United Launch Alliance (ULA), the organisation behind the Vulcan Centaur project.

The original Vulcan Centaur was complete with her time capsule-- a sticker saying 'Astro Liz's Lab', which is the name of her blog and social media pages. It launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Peregrine lunar lander, as Norman watched live with her family, counting down to blast off. “Go Vulcan! Go Peregrine! Go Astro Liz!” she shouted as ULA Mission Control commenced the launch.

Little Girl's Backyard Project Impresses Scientists

British news agency SWNS reported that Elizabeth Norman made a 7-foot-tall dummy Vulcan Centaur out of cardboard, back in 2020. She then launched it into the air as neighbours astonishedly watched it pierce the sky. A video of the feat was posted to Astro Liz's X (Twitter) account, which then went viral and gave her a chance to contribute to the ULA's Vulcan Centaur.

Norman's father, Steve, told SWNS that that her interest in science began in July 2020 when she watched a coverage of NASA’s Perseverance Rover’s flight to Mars. Her intrigue in space led her to learn more from online resources and conduct many science experiments.

Norman even started a science-themed YouTube channel to upload educational videos to get other kids passionate about space. Her Vulcan Centaur model first caught the eye of Tory Bruno, the CEO of ULA, who invited her to place the Astro Liz sticker on the real rocket. 

“It’s such a privilege to experience Elizabeth’s payload on its way to the Moon," Steve said. Norman's mother, Jennifer, said, "We are overwhelmingly grateful to Astrobotic for providing the opportunity for Elizabeth to launch her space dream and send her very own payload to the moon."

Jennifer expressed that it is not only a great opportunity for Norman, but also for other children to pursue their passion in space. She added, "None of us, including her, could ever have imagined that her dream would take off so rapidly. We can’t even put it into words because it’s so surreal that it’s actually happened."

According to SWNS, the primary payload of the Vulcan Centaur mission is the Peregrine lunar lander, developed by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, It was successfully deployed 50 minutes after liftoff following two burns of the Centaur upper stages. Of the 20 payloads that Peregrine seeks to land on the moon, five are NASA science instruments. The other 15 come from a range of customers, with a charge of $1.2 million per kg. 

The lander reached the lunar orbit, 225,000 miles from Earth, and is expected to make a hard landing on the moon near the Gruitheisen Domes scheduled for February 23. However, an unexpected challenge arose post-launch, and the complication may pose a threat to the spacecraft’s ability to land on the moon. The ULA team is working on a solution.