Hair from three US presidents traveling to moon after some technical difficulties with spacecraft

The hair of three U.S. presidents and the remains of multiple people involved in the "Star Trek" television series is on a mission to the moon despite a brief technical difficulty that was resolved several hours after launch Monday morning. 

United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, successfully launched the Vulcan rocket early Monday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida, but the spacecraft it carried, made by Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, was unable to orient to face the sun as planned, Astrobotic said Monday morning on X, formerly Twitter. 

Several hours later, Astrobotic said it "successfully re-established communications" with the spacecraft, known as Peregrine, and the team was able to reorient the craft's solar panels toward the sun to charge its battery. The private space firm blamed an issue in the propulsion system for the technical difficulty. 

If the mission is successful, Astrobotic would become the first private company to land on the moon, according to Reuters. 

Vulcan is carrying 268 cylindrical capsules, one of which contains hair samples from former Presidents George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, The New York Times reported. Additionally, the capsules contain the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, his wife, original "Star Trek" actress Majel Barrett, and three other actors from the sci-fi show: DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols and James Doohan.

However, Navajo Nation leaders tried to get the White House to delay the launch over the remains.

Two companies known for sending ashes into space, Celestis and Elysium Space, have payloads on the spacecraft. This sparked Navajo leaders to protest, arguing that many Native Americans believe the moon is sacred and putting human remains there would desecrate it. 

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