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Lining of money
When Beresheet, the lunar lander built by the Israeli company SpaceIL, crashed on the moon, it bore far more than the hopes and dreams of the first private company to reach the moon.
It was also about carrying a small piece of equipment from NASA. But the aircraft could have survived the crash, according to Space.com – a remarkable testimony of the robustness of the equipment of the space agency.
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In a fortuitous twist, the device – called a matrix of lunar retroreflectors (LRA) – happens to function as a kind of beacon. The spherical gadget, filled with cubic quartz mirrors, is designed to help guide spacecraft to specific landings, much like lights illuminating an airport runway. This means that NASA scientists could find it in a follow-up mission.
"Yes, we think the laser reflector network would have survived the crash, even though it may have separated from the main body of the spacecraft," said David Smith, a scientist at MIT. Space.com. "Of course, we do not know the orientation of the painting. It can be reversed, but the reception angle is 120 degrees and we only need one of the 0.5 inch cubes for detection. But that certainly did not help things.
READ MORE: Has NASA's experience survived the Moon Lander crash in Israel?[[[[Space.com]
More on Beresheet: After the failure of the moon landing, Israel swears to try again
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