On February 21, 2019, Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)’s first lunar spacecraft will launch a 180-kilogram lunar lander to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The full SpaceIL mission is a 600 kg spacecraft.
Above – NASA / Goddard / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter / Jason Davis / The Planetary Society. The lunar lander, Beresheet, will touch down in Mare Serenitatis, the “Sea of Serenity,” shown as the larger circle. The approximate landing site is in the inner circle.
Three-way Split of Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit Mission
The Israeli spacecraft will launch as a secondary payload with a Spaceflight Industries ridesharing. It will take two months to land on the moon.
An Indonesian telecommunications satellite called PSN-6 spacecraft, the SpaceIL moon mission and another satellite will be deployed to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
The SpaceIL lander will orbit Earth three times and raise its orbit until being captured by the Moon’s gravity.
Moon Mission Funding
Israeli billionaire and SpaceIL President Morris Kahn donated some $27 million to the project. The Israeli government has promised to fund 10% of the project. The Adelson family has also provided funding.
The moon mission will cost about $95 million.
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting February 21 launch of Nusantara Satu from Pad 40 in Florida.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 19, 2019
SOURCES- NASA, Times of Israel, Planetary Society, SpaceIL, Twitter
Written By Brian Wang. Nextbigfuture.com
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