[UPDATED. 2019-04-11 03:30pm EDT (19:05 UTC): (From what I heard translated on the live feed.) It appears there was a problem with the main engine. They tried restarting and were able to restart it at one point. They lost telemetry a couple of times. Then it was reported that they lost the lander. Said they were only the 7th country to successfully orbit the moon. --martyb]
Private Spacecraft Attempts a Moon Landing Today:
It has been 48 days since the Beresheet spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket and began a spiraling series of orbits to raise itself toward the Moon. Last week, the 180kg vehicle fired its engines to enter into lunar orbit, and now the time has come for it to attempt a soft landing on the Moon.
No private company has ever achieved what SpaceIL, a private group organized in Israel to win the now defunct Google Lunar XPrize, is attempting. At 3:05pm EDT Thursday (19:05 UTC), the Beresheet vehicle will begin the landing process that will set it down at Mare Serenitatis (the "Sea of Serenity"), about 30 degrees north of the lunar equator. The actual landing should come about 20 minutes later.
Live coverage is available on YouTube.
Related Stories
The team that built the ill fated-Beresheet lander which failed in its landing attempt on Thursday will build another lander.
"We're going to actually build a new halalit — a new spacecraft," billionaire businessman and philanthropist Morris Kahn said in a video statement posted on Twitter by the nonprofit group SpaceIL. "We're going to put it on the moon, and we're going to complete the mission."
The privately-funded Beresheet lander suffered a main engine problem during descent. Although the team was able to get the engine going again, it was too late and Beresheet impacted the surface at 310 mph (500km/h)
The team will still receive a $1 million award from the X Prize Foundation. Apparently this technically qualified as success because:
"I think they managed to touch the surface of the moon, and that's what we were looking for for our Moonshot Award," said X Prize CEO Anousheh Ansari.
Beresheet cost about $100 million in total. 40% of this was funded by Kahn himself.
See also: Israel's Moon probe snaps a final photo before crashing
Previously: Private Spacecraft Failed Moon Landing Today [UPDATED]
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Israel's SpaceIL says it won't try second moonshot
SpaceIL, the Israeli company that attempted but failed to put an unmanned craft on the moon earlier this year, says it will not try a second moonshot.
The company issued a statement Tuesday saying its lunar mission in April has been widely hailed as "an exceptional success," despite crash landing on the moon. It says that "an attempt to repeat a trip to the moon is not enough of a challenge" and will instead search for a different mission.
Previously: Private Spacecraft Failed Moon Landing Today [UPDATED]
Israel Will Build Another Lunar Lander
Israeli Spacecraft Beresheet Crash Site Spotted on Moon
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 11 2019, @07:25PM (2 children)
I was not able to watch. Kept cutting out -- which is unusual for YouTube.
My friend who was able to watch IMed me and said it wasn't in English.
While I have learned the Hebrew alphabet, and can sound out written words like a first grader learning to read -- I don't know what most of those words mean. Occasionally (watching the news) I will see Hebrew words, an sound them out, and recognize them. For example, "donald trump" -- phonetically, and sort of have the "ah ha" experience knowing what the word is. Or the name of a city, eg, Jerusalem. But it is not helpful at all when listening for what bit I was even able to listen.
I can probably catch it later this evening on YouTube.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2, Informative) by RandomFactor on Thursday April 11 2019, @07:28PM
It was unsuccessful :-(
Sorry guys.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:19PM
> While I have learned the Hebrew alphabet, and can sound out written words like a first grader learning to read -- I don't know what most of those words mean.
Very easy. For example, during rocket landings: Oy vey = oh shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @07:29PM (3 children)
Main engine failed at low(-ish) altitude. Last telemetry said 134m/s descent rate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @07:38PM
Maybe some of the knick knacks they sent will survive on the surface.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:14PM (1 child)
300 mph
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 11 2019, @09:23PM
That's how fast it was going down
It was also going horizontally at 1km/s (Mach 3 around here).
A video of the crash and tumbling in the low gravity would be quite impressive.
Bibi (was in the room) can't win every day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @07:47PM (3 children)
They seem to be unsure whether they are a private company or not.
Public:
Private:
The same confusion was apparent in the youtube chat stream as well.
So who gets the credit/blame? A group of investors or the nation of Israel?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:04PM (2 children)
(Score: 5, Touché) by DannyB on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:15PM (1 child)
In the US it is the opposite.
Profits are private, Costs belong to the country.
Success is private, Failure belongs to the country.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:39PM
I think it's actually a lot simpler, and a lot more universal:
Material profits are private, symbolic successes and failures are shared, along with the material costs.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:18PM (1 child)
crash at 1:04. The handling problems are apparent.
-> https://youtu.be/ldLIX4jvsCU?t=60 [youtu.be]
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday April 12 2019, @05:18PM
+1 funny, or -1 coldhearted? Oh - there's no coldhearted moderation, so I guess it's funny.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @09:47PM
The parachute failed and the lander turned into gefilte fish.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday April 11 2019, @10:55PM (1 child)
Isn't "Crash landing" a form of landing? Just not your preferred method of landing.
Not sure if I remember this correct but sending a signal to the moon takes a few seconds, so lets say double that to get confirmation back. If you are in rapid decent you have probably traveled a kilometer or two during that time. 20mins to land, that should leave a fair amount of communication time, but then if they can't get things to turn on then well not much to do I suspect but to enjoy a very expensive crash while you start to try and figure out what went wrong.
(Score: 3, Funny) by jelizondo on Friday April 12 2019, @12:41AM
There, fixed that for ya!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @01:40AM
https://www.xkcd.com/984/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @02:34AM (2 children)
Should have based it on Windows 10 for guaranteed telemetry.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @03:03AM (1 child)
I think they did. Just before the crash the said they were trying to reboot it...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @05:16AM
Windows Update strikes again!