[ad_1]
Beresheet, the robotic probe built by an Israeli non-profit organization, remains on track to land on the moon next week.
Thursday, having already traveled more than 3.4 million kilometers, it will be a crucial gymnastics: move from a very elliptical orbit around the Earth to another around the Moon.
"It's actually the most critical maneuver our spacecraft will perform during the mission," said Ido Anteby, General Manager of SpaceIL, a non-profit organization. "Except, of course, landing."
SpaceIL will broadcast coverage of the event from its control center in Israel on its Facebook page from 9:30 am Eastern time.
[[[[Sign up to receive reminders of space and astronomical events on your calendar..]
Since its launch in February, Beresheet, which means "genesis" or "early" in Hebrew, has launched its engine several times to shift its orbit in a loop higher and higher. On March 19, a 60-second blast pushed the peak of Beresheet's orbit to more than 250,000 meters above the Earth, slightly above the moon's orbit.
This trajectory has been carefully choreographed so that, on Thursday, the probe approaches this highest point as the moon passes, its gravity seizing Beresheet and projecting it away from the Earth.
At 10:15 am EST (17:15 in Israel), the engine should restart for approximately five minutes, slowing the speed of the Space Shuttle from approximately 5,300 miles per hour , compared to the Moon, at 4700 km / h.
"If we do not press the brakes, the sling will be lost forever," said Opher Doron, general manager of Israel Aerospace Industries' space division, which has teamed up with SpaceIL to build the spacecraft.
If Beresheet misses this appointment, he will probably not have another chance.
"It's not a complex maneuver," said Doron. "It's just not the time to have a sudden little problem. We will be nervous. "
If the maneuver works, Beresheet will be confined to an elliptical orbit around the moon, passing less than 310 km from the surface and moving at 6,200 miles.
Over the next week, he will launch his engine again to go into circular orbit at an altitude of 124 miles above the surface of the moon. If everything goes as planned, Beresheet will attempt a soft landing on April 11th. To date, this feat has only been accomplished by the governmental space agencies of the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.
SpaceIL's initial goal was to win the Google Lunar X Prize contest, which offered $ 20 million to the first privately funded company to install a robotic spacecraft on the moon. But the price has expired last year before the teams can claim it.
SpaceIL continued its momentum, hoping that its mission would encourage Israeli students to pursue a career in science and engineering.
Mr. Doron said that Beresheet did that.
At Purim, a Jewish holiday where people dress up in costumes like on Halloween, "wherever you went, people were disguised as Beresheet – or astronauts," said Mr. Doron. "The main parade had a huge balloon tank composed of berrys shaped berrys. It's an incredible impact. "
The X Prize Foundation announced last week that it would give SpaceIL a special reward of $ 1 million Moonshot, if the landing was successful.
Everything did not go perfectly for Beresheet. His computer broke down several times. Its star followers, used to facilitate the navigation of the spacecraft, were blinded, even when the sun is not watched directly.
The engineers did not understand the causes of all the problems, but understood how to solve them.
"The spaceship is working," said Anteby. "We are happy with what we have."
The landing itself, targeting a lava plain known as the Sea of Serenity, will be the most delicate part of the mission.
"Would you fly into a helicopter with the windows closed and just land with the help of a laser sensor that has never been tested, without a map?", He asked. "I doubt you're flying on this helicopter. That's what we try to do. "
[ad_2]
Source link