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Israel's first lunar spacecraft made its first successful maneuver on Sunday after completing its first orbit around the Earth, the team behind the private Beresheet project said.
According to a joint statement from IAI and SpaceIL, the 30-second maneuver, conducted at 69,400 kilometers from Earth, allowed the spacecraft to get closer to the moon.
The four-legged Beresheet, which is barely the size of a washing machine, will surround the Earth with ever larger loops, until captured by lunar gravity and orbits the moon. . The landing is scheduled for April 11 at the Sea of Serenity.
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Sunday's maneuver "will increase the approach point closest to the probe to the Earth [during its elliptical orbit] at a distance of 600 kilometers, "the statement said.
"This is the first time Beresheet's main engine has been activated – the maneuver has been successfully completed!", He adds.
The declaration emphasizes that the implementation of the maneuver takes into account the problems related to the satellite star navigation system.
The Falcon 9 rocket takes off with the Beresheet probe on February 22, 2019, as shown in the command center screen in Yehud, Israel. (SpaceIL)
After the successful launch of Beresheet in early Friday morning space, the control room team began to look into a small problem with its star navigation system.
The Israeli team stated that the glare of the sun on the spacecraft's sensors made it more difficult than expected to orient the spacecraft according to the position of the stars as it prepared for its first orbit around the spacecraft. Earth, the first trip of a week on the moon.
However, the team stated that they thought the problem was minor and there were other ways for the machine to make its way in the right direction.
The next maneuver is scheduled for Tuesday night.
Beresheet, which means "Genesis" in Hebrew, was lifted from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from the private SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk.
In case of success, Beresheet will enter the story twice: as the first private sector on the Moon and the first of the Jewish state.
The agencies contributed to this report.
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