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NASA's lunar reconnaissance satellite spotted the crash site of SpaceIL's spacecraft Beresheet, which failed during a landing on the moon on April 11, 2019.
Credit: © NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University
A piercing-eyed NASA spacecraft spotted the probable remains of an Israeli spacecraft that crashed on the moon last month.
New lunar images show what appears to be the final resting place of the Beresheet landlord, a spaceship run by the non-profit organization SpaceIL.
The Beresheet impact site appears as a "white impact halo" in the new image of the lunar reconnaissance orbiter (LAR), NASA officials said in a statement. A white tail is also clearly visible on the image, which, according to NASA, corresponds to the trajectory and approach angle of Beresheet during the descent of the probe on April 11th.
Related: This is the last picture taken by the Beresheet Moon of Israel
"The cameras captured a dark spot, about 10 meters [32 feet] wide, this indicates the point of impact. The dark tone suggests a roughened surface by a hard landing, which is less reflective than a clean, smooth surface, "NASA officials said.
"The slight halo around the flash could come from impact – associated gas or fine soil particles blown outward during the Beresheet descent, which smoothed the ground around the site. landing, thus making it very reflective, "added the agency.
Related: The biggest moonfall of all time
The mission of Beresheet, the first private lunar lander, ended on April 11 during its descent to the lunar surface. The orbit of LRO brought for the first time this spacecraft to the site of impact on April 22, and the orbiter captured the image with the help of its narrow angle black and white cameras.
LRO flew over the site at an altitude of approximately 90 kilometers. From this distance, the spacecraft could not detect any craters. NASA officials said it was possible that the crater was too small for LRO cameras or that Beresheet had created a small pullout instead of a crater.
Beresheet struck the surface at low angle of approach (8.4 degrees from the surface) and with a relatively low speed and light weight compared to a typical meteoroid (rock of space) which hit the surface of the moon, NASA officials said. All these conditions can be added to a small shrinkage on the surface.
NASA found the site thanks to radio tracking of the Beresheet descent, which made it possible to locate the landing site with an uncertainty of only a few kilometers. The technicians compared the new images to 11 "previous" images of the area and found only one feature that could have been achieved by Beresheet. The team also compared the site to craters made by other spacecraft reaching the lunar surface, including GRAIL, LADEE and Ranger.
NASA has not finished its observations on Beresheet yet. Small mirrors were installed on the top of the Space Shuttle. The agency is trying to bounce laser pulses from LRO on the mirrors. It is not yet clear whether the retroreflector has survived the accident.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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