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Beresheet

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Beresheet lander
Full size model of the Beresheet Moon lander
NamesSparrow (2011-2018)
Mission typeTechnology demonstrator
OperatorIsrael Aerospace Industries[1] and SpaceIL
COSPAR ID2019-09B
SATCAT no.44049
Websitewww.spaceil.com
Mission durationplanned: 2 days
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftBeresheet[2]
Spacecraft typeLunar lander
ManufacturerSpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries[3]
Launch mass585 kg (1,290 lb)
Dry mass150 kg (330 lb)
Dimensionsdiameter: 2 m (6.6 ft); height: 1.5 m[4]
Start of mission
Launch date22 February 2019 1:45 UTC[5] [6]
RocketFalcon 9 B5
Launch siteCCAFS SLC-40
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
DisposalDestroyed upon impact on moon surface
Destroyed11 April 2019, 19:23 (2019-04-11UTC19:24) UTC
Moon lander
Landing dateLunar capture: 4 April 2019
Landing: 11 April 2019 (failure)[7]
Landing siteMare Serenitatis[8]
File:Beresheet Landing site.png
Beresheet planned landing site in Mare Serenitatis.

Beresheet was a demonstrator of a small robotic lunar lander and lunar probe. Its aims included promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and landing its magnetometer, digital time capsule, and laser retroreflector on the Moon.

On 11 April 2019, the failure of an IMU unit caused a chain of events, leading to the shutoff of the main engine, which caused the lander to crash on the Moon.[9] On 13 April 2019, Beresheet-2 was announced.

The lander was previously known as Sparrow, and was officially named Beresheet (Template:Lang-he-n, "Genesis") in December 2018.[10] Its net mass was 150 kg (330 lb); when fueled at launch its mass was 585 kg (1,290 lb). Sizewise, it had been compared to a washing machine. It used seven ground stations, globally, for Earth-lander communication.[11] Its Mission Control room was at Israel Aerospace Industries in Yehud, Israel.

Planning and construction

Beresheet was co-developed by SpaceIL, a non-profit organization of headed by Morris Kahn, its major financier and Israel Aerospace Industries. It represented the first privately initiated Moon mission and was stimulated by the Google Lunar X Prize.[12] The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) participated in the construction and was supported by the Israel Space Agency.[13] The time window for participation in the Lunar X Prize closed before the launch. After the mission Lunar X Prize awarded a US$1 million dollar prize to SpaceIL to support a second mission.[14]

The costs for the project were about US$100 million.[15]

Payload

The spacecraft carried a digital "time capsule" containing over 30 million pages of data, including a full copy of the English-language Wikipedia, the Wearable Rosetta disc, the PanLex database, the Torah, children's drawings, a children's book inspired by the space launch, memoirs of a Holocaust survivor, Israel's national anthem ("Hatikvah"), the Israeli flag, and a copy of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.[16][17][18][5][19]

Its scientific payload included a magnetometer supplied by the Israeli Weizmann Institute of Science to measure the local magnetic field, and a laser retroreflector array supplied by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to enable precise measurements of the Earth–Moon distance.[20][21]

Propulsion

The spacecraft propulsion system was designed and built by Israel Aerospace Industries, based on monomethylhydrazine (MMH) fuel and mixed oxides of nitrogen (MON) oxidizer. It featured nine engines, the main engine was the LEROS 2b liquid-propellant, restartable rocket engine which engine was used to reach lunar orbit, as well as for deceleration of the spacecraft, destructive lithobraking, and an attempted propulsive landing.[22][23]

Launch

In October 2015, SpaceIL signed a contract for a launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, via Spaceflight Industries.[24][25] It was launched on 22 February 2019 at 0145 UTC (20:45 local time on 21 February) as a secondary payload,[5][26][27] along with the telecom satellite PSN-6.[28] Beresheet was controlled by a command center in Yehud, Israel.[29]

From 24 February to 19 March, the main engine was used four times for orbit raising, putting its apogee close to the Moon's orbital distance.[30] The spacecraft performed maneuvers so as to be successfully captured into an elliptical lunar orbit on 4 April 2019, and adjusted its flight pattern in a circular orbit around the Moon. Once it was in the correct circular orbit, it was planned to decelerate for a soft landing on the lunar surface. This was planned for 11 April 2019.[31]

Planned landing site

The planned landing site was in the north part of the Mare Serenitatis,[8] and the landing zone was about 15 km (9.3 mi) in diameter.[32]

Beresheet was planned to operate for an estimated two days on the lunar surface,[24] as it had no thermal control and was expected to quickly overheat.[33] However, its laser retroreflector was a passive device requiring no electrical power and was expected to be functional for several decades.[34]

Failed landing

On 11 April 2019, the lander unsuccessfully attempted a landing on the lunar surface. During the braking procedure on approach to the landing site, IMU2 (an Inertial Measurement Unit gyroscope) failed, and the ground control crew was unable to reset the individual component due to a sudden loss of communications with the control network.[35] When communications were restored, the craft's main engine had already stopped working for an extended period. The engine was brought back online following a system-wide reset; however, the craft had already lost too much altitude to slow its descent sufficiently. The craft arrived at the surface of the Moon, but at a speed and angle that did not allow for a smooth landing, resulting in a total loss.[36] Prior to impact, the probe had been able to take two last photographs, a selfie of itself against the moon, and a closer shot of the moon's surface.[37]

Second mission

On 13 of April 2019, Morris Kahn announced that a new mission, named Beresheet-2, would attempt to make a soft landing on the moon:

Good evening people of Israel, I have a message for you. After all the massive support that I got from the entire world for this project, I decided to lead a new project - "Beresheet 2". The mission we started, I hope we can complete. This is my goal. As for my message for all the youngsters - if it doesn't work at first, stand up, and complete it. And this is what I'm doing, and what I wanted to tell you this evening. Thank you."[38]

References

  1. ^ This 'Sparrow' lunar lander may soon make Israel the 4th country to land the Moon. Dave Mosher, Business Insider. 14 August 2018.
  2. ^ SpaceX Delays Launch of First Private Lunar Lander Without Explanation. Kristin Houser, Futurism. 18 December 2018.
  3. ^ IAI studying follow-on opportunities for SpaceIL lunar lander. Jeff Foust, Space News. 17 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Israeli unmanned spacecraft to land on Moon in 2019". BBC News. 10 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Graham, William (21 February 2019). "SpaceX launches Indonesian satellite launch and Israeli moon mission". NasaSpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  6. ^ Pietrobon, Steven (8 December 2018). "United States Commercial ELV Launch Manifest". Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  7. ^ Israeli spirits soar as Moon launch countdown begins, 18 February 2019
  8. ^ a b Here's (almost) everything you need to know about Israel's Moon lander. Jason Davis, The Planetary Society. 8 November 2018.
  9. ^ Lidman, Melanie. "Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashes into the moon during landing attempt". www.timesofisrael.com.
  10. ^ SpaceIL, IAI to send time capsule on Israel's historic Moon mission. SpaceIL website. Accessed on 17 December 2018.
  11. ^ SpaceIL - Technology. Accessed on 6 March 2019.
  12. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) (19 February 2019). "Israel schickt ersten privat finanzierten Mond-Lander auf den Weg". Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  13. ^ Christine Lunsford (9 February 2019). "Israel's 1st Moon Lander: The SpaceIL Beresheet Lunar Mission in Pictures". Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  14. ^ Mike Wehner (12 April 2019). "We now know why Israel's lunar lander crashed into the Moon". BGR. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  15. ^ Mike Wall (4 April 2019). "Pioneering Israeli Lunar Lander Arrives in Orbit Around the Moon". space.kom. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  16. ^ Chang, Kenneth (21 February 2019). "After SpaceX Launch, Israeli Spacecraft Begins Journey to the Moon". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  17. ^ Holmes, Oliver (20 February 2019). "Israel to launch first privately funded moon mission". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  18. ^ Shafi Musaddique (21 February 2019). "Israel to take 'digital bible' to space as it becomes fourth country to land on the Moon". www.euronews.com. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  19. ^ "The first library on another celestial body". www.archmission.org. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  20. ^ Potter, Sean (3 October 2018). "NASA, Israel Space Agency Sign Agreement for Commercial Lunar Cooperat". NASA. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  21. ^ NASA Video (29 November 2018), NASA Announces New Moon Partnerships with U.S. Companies, retrieved 3 December 2018
  22. ^ Jonathan Amos (21 February 2019). "Israel's Beresheet robot sets its sights on the Moon". BBC News Online.
  23. ^ Lunde, Endre. "Nammo's British Rocket Engine Powers Israel's Mission to the Moon". Mynewsdesk. Endre Lunde, Senior Vice President, Communications, +4790853270
  24. ^ a b Winner, Stewart; Solomon, Shoshanna (10 July 2018). "Israeli spacecraft aims for historic moon landing… within months". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  25. ^ Israeli GLXP Team Is First to Sign Launch Agreement For Private Mission to the Moon On SpaceX Falcon 9, 7 October 2015
  26. ^ SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare launch to send a commercial lander to the Moon in 2019. Eric Ralph, Teslarati. 12 September 2018.
  27. ^ Ronel, Asaf (10 July 2018). "First Israeli Spacecraft to Head to Moon on Back of Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket". Haaretz. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  28. ^ SpaceIL making final fundraising push for lunar lander mission. Jeff Foust, SpaceNews. 14 December 2017.
  29. ^ staff, T. O. I. "Israeli lunar craft successfully completes first maneuver". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  30. ^ "Beresheet lander on course for the moon". 19 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  31. ^ "Recalculating Route: The plan of spacecraft's trajectory has been completed". SpaceIL. July 2018.
  32. ^ Landing site selection for the SpaceIL mission to the Moon. Yuval Grossman. Lunar And Planetary Science. Conference XLVIII. March 2017.
  33. ^ With SpaceIL launch, its to the moon and beyond for Israel. Yaakov Lappin, Heritage. 11 January 2019.
  34. ^ David, Leonard (31 March 2019). "NASA's Piggyback Experiment on Israeli Moon Lander Could Aid Future Lunar Touchdowns". Space.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  35. ^ LIVE broadcast - Beresheet lands on the Moon Fasten your seatbelts, we are about to land (Live videocast). Yehud, Israel: SpaceIL. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019. commentary beginning 32'56" (combined Hebrew and English)
  36. ^ Chang, Kenneth (11 April 2019). "Israel's Beresheet Spacecraft Moon Landing Attempt Appears to End in Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  37. ^ Dent, Steve (14 April 2019). "Israel's Moon probe snaps a final photo before crashing". Engadget. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  38. ^ "SpaceIL". www.facebook.com.
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