Found the location of the fall of the device "Bereshit" to the moon



    One and a half weeks after the fatal accident, while performing the Bereshit landing procedure, the LRO lunar orbit probe detected the appearance of new destructions on the lunar surface in the region of the alleged fall.

    Launched by NASA on June 18, 2009, the lunar orbiting probe (LRO) continues to be used to obtain a wealth of valuable scientific information.

    The trajectory of the LRO probe, when it was possible to detect new traces on the moon:



    So on April 22, 2019, the LRO probe took an interesting photo in the alleged area of ​​the Bereshit apparatus fall, which revealed the secret of the place of its accident.

    The LRO probe previously flew over this place on December 16, 2018 and it became possible to see how the surface of the moon was transformed after the fall of the Bereshit apparatus.

    According to preliminary estimates, the Bereshit device flew 16-20 km further than the estimated landing site. And the place of its fall had to be sought in a zone with a diameter of 140 km in the area of ​​the lunar surface planned for landing earlier in the Sea of ​​Clarity.

    Red numbers - the height of the Bereshit device above the lunar surface at two fixed points from which photos of the lunar surface were sent to them.



    The latest data from the SpaceIL MCC during the landing:



    The total mass of the Bereshit device when it hits the lunar surface: 150 kg (the device itself) +76 kg (remaining fuel) = 226 kg.

    The last 4 seconds of the device’s life according to the data from the MCC (from 678 to 149 meters decrease):









    According to online video broadcasting, an enthusiast from Slovakia created a landing table with the following telemetry data and time:



    And what happened on the lunar surface in the area of ​​Sea of ​​Clarity - a new crater and a big boom - a completely destroyed device.

    As expected, the diameter of the formed shallow crater after the fall of the apparatus is about 7-8 meters. The Bereshit apparatus crashed into the lunar surface at a small angle (~ 8 °), the crater turned out to be elongated.

    Data from LRO.



    Coordinates of the darkest pixel in the center of the picture on the right - 32.5956 ° of N, 19.3496 ° E .



    The main characteristics of the mission and the lunar vehicle "Bereshit":

    • start of mission: February 22, 2019;
    • mission end: an accident occurred (falling to the moon) when trying to complete the final landing procedures on April 11, 2019, a complete loss of communication with the device at an altitude of 149 meters;
    • trajectory of movement to the Moon (actually the maximum possible): complex, modifiable by performing a series of maneuvers (turning on the engines for several seconds or even minutes) to increase the apogee of its elliptical orbit after each orbit around the Earth, then transfer to the lunar orbit, followed by landing;
    • the height of the Bereshit apparatus is about 1.5 meters, a diameter of 2 meters (2.3 meters between landing supports);
    • weight 530 kilograms with fuel (fuel weight (hydrazine) - 380 kg), 150 kg without fuel;
    • scientific instruments: magnetometer (sent part of the scientific data while the device was in orbit of the moon and in the process of landing), an array of laser corner reflectors (they will be searched for by the LRO probe).



    How to assemble the device "Bereshit":


    The Bereshit device was supposed to land on April 11, 2019 on a dark lava plain known as the Sea of ​​Clarity, not far from the region in which astronauts of the Apollo 17 mission landed on December 11, 1972.



    The Bereshit apparatus was in orbit of the Moon and used a magnetometer during landing and transmitted to the MCC some of the scientific data on the magnetic field of the moon.

    Unfortunately, due to a software error in the operation of the on-board computer and the engines of the Bereshit apparatus, an emergency occurred during the landing, which led to the shutdown of the main engine and uncontrolled crash at high speed onto the lunar surface.

    And so ended the space journey of the first private lunar apparatus.

    Eight (8!) Years of development, the project cost $ 100 million, 200 volunteer scientists and engineers, 47 days of flight and more than 6.5 million kilometers were overcome, at the start of 380 kilograms of fuel, an accelerated LEROS 2b engine, 6 onboard cameras, a magnetometer, an array of laser corner reflectors, and 1 landing attempt, in which a 150-kilogram apparatus with 76 kilograms of fuel (hydrazine) in tanks fell to the surface of the moon with high speed.

    The total mass of the Bereshit apparatus upon impact on the lunar surface: 150 kg (the apparatus itself) +76 kg (remaining fuel) = 226 kg, speed more than 940 m / s, the kinetic energy of the Bereshit apparatus at the moment of collision was not less than 103 MJ , which is equivalent to the explosion of 25 kg of TNT (trinitrotoluene).

    In the picture below, the white bar is 100 meters.



    Comparison of the crash site and planned landing areas:





    By the way, after the Bereshit crash, dark spots formed on the surface of the moon from hydrazine emissions upon impact, as well as at the crash site of the Schiaparelli spacecraft on Mars (the European Schiaparelli probe crashed to Mars at a speed of 300 km / h).



    Space lunar vehicles around the crash site:


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