israeli lunar lander slips into orbit around the moon - laser sensor for distance measurement

On Thursday, an Israeli small spacecraft fired an important rocket from a highly elliptical Earth orbit into orbit around the moon.
It laid the foundation for an automatic landing attempt in April 11.
The spaceship was the first privately funded
Super lunar lander
"The Moon capture itself is a historic event, but it has also joined Israel's 7-
The National Club, which has already entered the lunar orbit, "said space Group Chairman Maurice Kahn.
The profit of making Beresheet's mission to the moon fruitful.
"The week from today, we will land on the moon and join the three superpowers who do so to create more history.
Today, I am proud to be an Israeli.
"Hot news Garlic Festival filming center zone climate change documentary Dan Coates resigned Brooklyn shooting was launched on February 21 as the second payload on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the robot Beresheet's host has launched seven times in the past few weeks, lifting its orbit high to a height of 240,000 miles away.
The Beresheet lunar lander captured a spectacular view of the Earth on its way to the moon.
A small Israeli spacecraft will attempt to land on the Moon on April 11.
Exercise on Thursday, 6-
A minute's burn began at 10: 18 A. M. m.
ET, reducing Beresheet's speed relative to the moon by about 620 miles per hour is enough to allow the moon's gravity to capture the spacecraft.
The goal of burning is to send the spacecraft into orbit at a low of about 310 miles and a high of about 6,213 miles.
Launch is crucial because without it, Beresheet will sail from the moon to a useless orbit around the sun, thus bringing the mission to a disappointing end.
But the rocket launch went well, laying the foundation for landing on a vast plain called "Mare Serenitatis" on April 11.
If successful, Israel will join the ranks of the United States, Russia and China as the fourth country to land and operate spacecraft on the moon.
"After spending six weeks in space, we managed to overcome another critical phase by going into the moon's gravity," space il CEO Ido Taibi said in a statement.
"We still have a long way to go before we go to the moon, but I believe our team will. . .
We are proud to have launched the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon.
"Designed by SpaceIL and built by Israel Aerospace Industry Corporation, since-
Cancel Google Moon X
Beresheet is to stimulate interest in STEM careers among students in Israel and around the world.
The cost of the spacecraft and launch was mainly funded by private donations, totaling about $100 million, a deal compared to past StarCraft missions.
But the relatively low cost poses additional risks.
There are very few redundant systems for spacecraft, and the ability to recover from component failures or failures is limited.
The flight controller has had to solve the problem of an unexpected restart of the computer and a star tracker for the spacecraft.
Now, however, it's safely in orbit around the moon, and the team's goal is to land.
In the coming week, several exercises are scheduled to send Beresheet into circular orbit at about 124 miles.
From there, the ship will begin to descend.
In order to reach the moon, the Beresheet lander took the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as a secondary payload.
Anteby said earlier this week that space "will land on its own ".
"In fact, we will give orders to land, and it will land itself.
We have never tested it so we are not sure how it will work.
We did a lot of experiments and tests with the simulator in the lab, but we never tested the spacecraft landing on the moon.
A single sensor failure could hinder the moon, he said.
"In order to start the landing process, we need to give the exact location of the spacecraft," he said . ".
"This precise positioning is very risky.
We also have a special sensor, a laser sensor.
This is the first time this sensor has appeared on the moon, so it is also very dangerous.
"During the final descent, before the host is turned off at a height of about 16 feet M, the potentiometer will measure the local magnetic field.
From there, the spacecraft will fall freely to the ground.
Beresheet is equipped with a high
The camera captures a panoramic view of the landing site and helps scientists get to know the area better.
The spacecraft also carries a small "time capsule" with photos and cultural works of art, including a copy of the Bible engraved on the coin --size disk.
"Until today, the three superpowers have had a soft landing on the moon," said Yonatan Winetraub.
One of the founders of SpaceIL.
"We think it's time to make a change.
We want to bring little Israel to the moon.
This is the purpose of space.