The maneuver that was carried out brought Genesis back into an elliptical orbit with the closest point in front of the Moon (Perilona) being only about 15-17 km and the farthest point from the Moon (Epilona) remaining 200 km
Tonight (Wednesday) at 19:40 the engineering team of SpaceIL and the Aerospace Industry successfully performed the last maneuver before landing - a complex maneuver to lower the height of the spacecraft before the moon and prepare for the expected landing tomorrow.
The maneuver that was carried out brought the Genesis back into an elliptical orbit, with the closest point in front of the Moon (Perilona) being only about 15-17 km and the farthest point from the Moon (Epilona) remaining 200 km. The maneuver was carried out on the far side of the moon - without real-time communication, the engines lasted about 32 seconds and the amount of fuel used during it was about 5 kg.
After the maneuver is completed, Bereshit will continue to circle in an elliptical orbit around the moon with the entire lap lasting about two hours. This maneuver is the last maneuver before the most critical maneuver - landing on the moon.
Ahead of the landing, SpaceIL and the Aerospace Industry released a video explaining the landing process:
Interim summary - the journey of "Genesis" until the capture of the moon:
So far 7 maneuvers were performed, the spacecraft passed approx- 5.5 million km Cumulatively in all its orbits and is expected to travel another million km in orbits around the moon. A total of 12.5 laps were performed Around the Earth (7 orbits at an altitude of 70,000 km, 2 orbits at an altitude of 131,000 km, 2 orbits at an altitude of 265,000 km and 1.5 orbits at an altitude of 410,000 km). The amount of fuel used so far About 80 kg.
Total Two main faults were recorded The engineering team overcame them one by star trackers that were dazzled by the sun more than what was observed and the other by unwanted reboots in the mission computer.
As a reminder, on February 22nd at 03:45 the Israeli spacecraft Bereshit was successfully launched to the moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida in the USA on top of a SpaceX launch pad using a Falcon 9 rocket as a secondary payload alongside two satellites. At 04:23 the first data from Berashit began to be received and at 04:25 the legs of the spacecraft were deployed as planned. In doing so, Israel made history by launching the first ever Israeli spacecraft into space.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Will we see the landing on video? Why are videos not accepted and only photos?