The pathetic landing of the Israeli spacecraft on the Moon

NASA has just released an image of the landing area of ​​the Beresheet spacecraft, Israel more than a month after it landed on the failed Moon.

Two black-and-white photos taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) are the front and back images of the Beresheet falling freely and smashing on the Moon's surface.

The first photo was taken in 2016 in the Moon Serenitatis area of the Moon. The second photo taken at the same location on April 22 shows what NASA describes as a dark "stain" about 10 meters wide.

Picture 1 of The pathetic landing of the Israeli spacecraft on the Moon
The surface image of the Moon before and after Beresheet's landing.(Photo: NASA)

"Dark tones show a rough surface where the ship landed , " NASA said. The US aerospace agency added that its cameras could not confirm the Beresheet's failed landing that formed a crater on the area where it fell.

The 585kg heavy Beresheet was launched from Cape Canaveral beach in Florida state, USA on February 21. Beresheet was co-fabricated by SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit expedition organization and Israeli aviation industry group (IAI) at a cost of $ 100 million.

Beresheet was once expected to become the smallest and cheapest spacecraft that landed on the Moon. However, due to engine malfunction, the ship encountered an incident at the last minute of landing, quenching its ambition to help Israel become the fourth country to successfully land the spacecraft on the Moon, after the US and China. and Russia.

  1. Choking waiting for Earth's first private ship to land on the Moon
  2. Israeli spacecraft sends the first snapshot to Earth