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D & # 39; Israel Beresheet lunar lander has almost reached the moon.
The Beresheet, which is 5 feet tall, launched its engines for a little more than a minute early this morning (April 1st), slightly changing its trajectory to prepare for a planned capture. lunar orbit Thursday, April 4th.
If everything goes as planned, the robotic lander will land on the moon a week later, April 11th. This will be an important step. To date, the only organizations to organize a smooth lunar landing are the superpower governments – the Soviet Union, the United States and China.
Related: The first Israeli moon Lander Beresheet in pictures
Beresheet, on the other hand, is a private initiative run by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries. SpaceIL formed in 2011 to compete in the Google Lunar X Award (GLXP), a $ 30 million competition that asked privately funded teams to land a satellite on the moon and let it do some basic chores.
The GLXP ended last year without a winner, but SpaceIL and some other teams continued to work on their Moon Landers.
Beresheet, whose name means "originally" in Hebrew, launched into Earth orbit at the top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket February 21st. Since then, the spacecraft has performed a series of orbital climb maneuvers to get closer and closer to the moon.
This morning's work, lasting 72 seconds, allowed for some "final adjustments" before the lunar orbit capture, mission team members said in a statement. update this morning. It is not clear if further adjustments of this type will be necessary.
"The teams are evaluating the results to determine if another alignment will be needed before Beresheet enters the lunar orbit this Thursday," said the project team members.
Beresheet made his last approach to Earth yesterday (March 31), zooming in less than 1,700 kilometers from our planet, they added. The LG has photographed a beautiful photo to commemorate this passage, capturing the Earth at a distance of about 16,000 km.
The picture shows the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Africa; Thick clouds are covering Israel, Beresheet team members said in the update today.
Beresheet will perform scientific work on and around the moon. For example, the LG will measure the local lunar magnetic fields and display a small network of laser reflectors for NASA to help prove the technology that could allow more accurate landings on the Moon and other bodies in the future.
Beresheet also carries a "lunar library"to help safeguard slices of human history and culture.But the main goal is to advance Israel's spaceflight program and inspire young people to s & rsquo; To be more interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The total cost of the Beresheet mission, including launch, is about $ 100 million, the team members said.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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