SpaceX has launched the Israeli Lunar Lander on the Moon

The Israeli space shuttle Beresheet was launched tonight during a trip to the moon, where she hopes to land in two months. This will be the first lunar landing attempt by a private company, as well as the first launch by an Israeli spacecraft. Beresheet took off from Cape Canaveral on one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets at 8:45 am ET tonight.

One hour after launch, Beresheet engineers reported that the spacecraft had deployed its landing legs as planned, and returned his first signs of life, indicating a safe entry into space.

Small boat, great expectations

The creators of Beresheet are Israel Aerospace Industries and the non-profit company SpaceIL, which has built the spacecraft for $ 100 million, including launch costs – a minimal cost for a space mission. NASA provides support to track and monitor the spacecraft during its journey and landing.

The first Beresheet maneuver will take place approximately 9 hours after launch. Engineers will also check that everything is working as expected. After that, it will take a month to reach an orbit 250 km from Earth, then continue to turn further until it is captured in a lunar orbit.

Previous missions have reached the moon much faster. However, Yigel Harel, SpaceIL Spatecraft Program Manager, said at a press conference: "We realized from the start that we did not have a Saturn V engine. So we have to do it by commercial launch. That means they share their payload with another satellite that goes into Earth orbit and they can not choose their initial orbit very carefully. That's what makes NASA's bid to follow the spacecraft with its precious deep space network and lunar orbiters.

Upon arrival, Beresheet should transmit data from the moon for about two days. He wears a magnetometer to measure the magnetism in his landing zone at Mare Serenitatis, a region visible on the lunar face. The Moon does not have a global magnetic field, unlike the Earth, but specific regions and rocks are magnetized, as previous lunar expeditions have discovered. Mare Serenitatis is one of those regions and Beresheet wants to collect more data about it. NASA and SpaceIL will share this data as part of their flight support contract.

Beresheet will also collect images and videos while remaining in space, during its descent and when on the moon. He needs these two days to send all the data to Earth. The spacecraft also has the ability to "jump" short distances to the moon, and engineers are confident in its ability to carry the necessary fuel. The question will be, what exactly does his landing point look like and whether he will be able to jump safely or simply stay in place once he arrives. Engineers say that they will only make a decision later in the mission.

It is not expected that Beresheet leaves the moon. Its creators also added historical, cultural and scientific media on three disks, serving as a sort of witness capsule and monument to Israel's first spacecraft. Its creators hope that Beresheet, which means "In the beginning" in Hebrew, will inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers in Israel and around the world.