Israel’s Moon probe snaps a final photo before crashing


The Beresheet spacecraft from Israel’s SpaceIL was facing long odds to land on the Moon, being the first ever privately launched probe to attempt it. Alas, its engine cut out during the landing attempt, communication was lost, and Beresheet crashed into the surface. Fortunately, just before that happened, the spacecraft turned its camera toward the Moon’s horizon and managed to snap a final, sublime photo of its cratered surface.

SpaceIL was one of the finalists for Google’s Lunar Xprize, which ended without a winner. Had the probe landed, it would have carried several scientific experiences. That includes measuring the local magnetic field using a magnetometer and carrying a NASA-made laser retroreflector array to measure the precise distance between the Earth and the Moon. It also brought a time capsule containing a copy of the English-language Wikipedia, the Wearable Rosetta Disk, the Torah, children’s drawings, memoirs of a Holocaust survivor and more.


Read More Breaking news :  Science News

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