SpaceX launches the first private moon lander built by Israeli non-profit

[editor]

It's only going to last a few days if it gets there but still some achievement...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has ferried Israel's first lunar lander outside our atmosphere, setting it free to make its way to its ultimate destination: the moon. If it reaches its target successfully, Israel would be joining the US, China and the former Soviet Union in the list of nations to have sent a lander to our planet's trusty companion. Unlike the three other countries in that list, Israel's robotic spacecraft named "Beresheet" was created by a non-profit group called SpaceIL.

Beresheet will spend the next couple of months orbiting the Earth and then letting the moon's gravity pull it into the lunar orbit. It will then decrease its orbit until it finally lands on the northern lunar hemisphere sometime in April. You could say that the lander is taking the scenic route by employing that method, but SpaceIL isn't in a hurry. Besides, the technique effective and fuel-efficient.

According to The New York Times, the lander can only last a few days at most. It will use that time to measure the moon's magnetic field as it approaches for landing, which could shed light on the moon's core that's believed to be made of iron. The lander also has retroreflectors installed by NASA that can bounce back lasers beamed from Earth to get an accurate measurement of the distance between our planet and its natural satellite.

SpaceX launches the first private moon lander on Israel's behalf
After SpaceX Launch, Israeli Spacecraft Begins Journey to the Moon

 

[T & P]

I must check the paperwork for that acre of land on the Moon I bought on the internet years ago. If they land on my plot I’m fucking charging them landing fees.

 

[Yossarian]

I must check the paperwork for that acre of land on the Moon I bought on the internet years ago. If they land on my plot I’m fucking charging them landing fees.

Pretty sure they'd be able to dig up a Bible verse saying God promised them the moon a few thousand years ago.

 

[editor]

There's a million at stake!

The stakes just got even higher for an Israeli moon lander's historic touchdown attempt next month.

If all goes according to plan on April 11, the robotic lander, known as Beresheet, will become the first privately funded craft ever to pull off a soft lunar touchdown. To date, only the governments of the Soviet Union, the United States and China have landed missions on the moon.

Success will also net Beresheet's builders — the nonprofit group SpaceIL and the company Israel Aerospace Industries — a cool $1 million, courtesy of the X Prize Foundation.

$1 Million Prize Offered to Israeli Moon Lander Mission

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Landing today.

 

[editor]

More info:

The Israeli team SpaceIL will attempt to land the country's first moon lander, called Beresheet, on the Sea of Serenity on the moon and you can watch it live today, courtesy of a SpaceIL webcast. The webcast will begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT), with Beresheet's landing expected for some time between 3 and 4 p.m. EDT (1900-2000 GMT).



Space Webcasts: Virgin Galactic Ceremony Celebrates SpaceShipTwo's Historic Flight

 

[Limejuice]

Uh-oh.

Main descent engine problem.

 

[Limejuice]

They didn't make it.

Arse.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Pile o’ shite.

 

[ferrelhadley]

Pile o’ shite.

Some people tried something very hard.
I think they have achieved more in failure than you in your smug dismissal.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Some people tried something very hard.
I think they have achieved more in failure than you in your smug dismissal.

What exactly have they achieved? Failing to do something that was done successfully multiple times before I was even born? Cor, bring on the future dudes.

 

[editor]

I wanted science to win and all the non Israeli bits to function perfectly.

 

[ferrelhadley]

Failing to do something that was done successfully multiple times

By nation states spending huge amounts of money.
This was not "great science". What this was, was great engineering that had an interesting political dynamic to it. Anousheh Ansari set up a prize to land on the Moon and many teams tried and failed to meet her Lunar Prize X goals. But the Israeli team (and a German one) missed the deadlines but built machines to try to land on the Moon. As a woman of Iranian birth she was happy to attend the Israeli attempt at a Moon landing. This was not about billion dollar space programs but about pushing the envelope from the other direction. Small teams trying to find innovative ways of doing space on the cheap. While SpaceX and Blue Origins suck up all the publicity oxygen of "new space", small payloads and small launchers like the UKs Cube Sat specialists Surrey Satellite Technology and mini launchers like New Zealands Rocket Labs are pushing the boundaries of access to space every bit as hard. These small teams are all about "innovate or die" and from that innovation humanities future may emerge quicker than people like you could imagine.

Iranians, Israelis, British, Germans, Indians, US, New Zealanders..... a world full of creative individuals trying to get make space cheaper and lighter. I fucking love the crazy mad cap world this effort represents.

 

[editor]

Oh maybe it wasn't a complete disaster after all

Did NASA Experiment Survive on Failed Israeli Moon Lander?

 

[Limejuice]

So, in effect, there's a glitter ball on the surface of the Moon.



I can die happy.

 

[editor]

And here's where it ended up

Moon Crash Site Found! NASA Probe Spots Grave of Israeli Lunar Lander