SPACEIL and the Israeli Aerospace Industries stated that at that time the Beresheet spacecraft was at an altitude of approximately 37,600 km above the Earth and the continent of Australia is clearly visible in the background
The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet developed by the SpaceIL association and the Aerospace Industry, which is making its way to the moon and which is now in an elliptical orbit ranging from an altitude of 600 km to 131 thousand km, broadcast its first selfie yesterday. At that time, Bereshit was at an altitude of about 37,600 km above the earth, and activated the selfie camera that points to a board with the flag of Israel and the words "Aam Yisrael Chai" on it, against the background of the passage over Australia and the Pacific Ocean.
The critical moments: the capture of the moon and the landing
As you may recall, the Bereshit spacecraft was launched on February 22 aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher and since then its engines have been ignited twice to change its trajectory, the second ignition failed on its first attempt on February 25, when the mission computer reset itself before performing the maneuver, and the maneuver was automatically canceled . It was eventually successfully carried out after implementation of anti-launch protection mechanisms on February 28 and the spacecraft changed course to an ellipse where the point farthest from Earth is higher. If everything goes well, on April 4 the moon will be captured, that is, leaving the orbit around the earth, being captured by the moon's gravity, and continuing to circle around it. The landing is planned for April 11. Both of these will be critical moments for the small spacecraft.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Genesis engineers overcame the problem; The spacecraft ascended to an orbit with an altitude of up to 131 thousand km
- First serious malfunction of the Bereshit spacecraft on the way to the moon: a sudden reboot of the computer caused the cancellation of an orbital maneuver
- The engines of the Genesis spacecraft were activated for the first time - and successfully
One response
When it starts to land on the moon, at what speed and at what height will it start the move?