2019-04-20_New_Scientist

20 April 2019 | NewScientist | 9

AN AMBITIOUS trip to the moon
has ended with the spacecraft in
pieces. Beresheet, which was set
to be the first privately funded
lander on the moon’s surface,
suffered a fatal engine failure as it
was attempting to land on 11 April.
It crashed into the lunar surface
instead of touching down gently.
Because Beresheet was done
on a minimal budget – about
$100 million, far less than any
other moon mission – the
spacecraft had very few of the
backups and contingency plans
that characterise big government-
funded missions. That made it
a risky venture.
Run by Israeli non-profit
SpaceIL, the mission was financed
primarily by private donors. This
was originally to meet an entry
requirement of the Google Lunar
X Prize, which offered a cash
reward to the first venture not
funded by a government to land
on the moon. It ended without
a winner in January 2018.
The X Prize Foundation

announced in March that it

would give SpaceIL $1 million if

Beresheet landed successfully.

After the crash, X Prize founder

Peter Diamandis tweeted that

SpaceIL would still receive the

$1 million prize to continue

its work.

The spacecraft faced small

hiccups with its navigation and

communication systems after its

February launch, but ultimately

was able to enter orbit around

the moon. During the spacecraft’s

landing sequence, it suffered

failures in its communications

system and in its main engine.

By the time the engine was

brought back online, Beresheet

was moving too quickly to brake

before it smashed into the moon.

The impact may have created

a crater large enough for NASA’s

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,

which is currently in orbit around

the moon, to take a picture of the

crash site.

Despite its demise, Beresheet

was still impressive. It made Israel

the seventh nation to put a craft

in orbit around the moon, even

if it didn’t ultimately land.

“The saying ‘failure is not an

option’ is not true – we need to

fail in order to learn,” says space

consultant Laura Seward Forczyk.

“They failed in a way that still

succeeded in a lot of their goals

Bad news as Israeli probe

crashes on the moon...

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“ The saying ‘failure is not

an option’ is not true –

we need to fail in order

to learn”

The moon pictured by Beresheet

from 22 kilometres above its surface

THE Falcon Heavy rocket is in
business. On 11 April, SpaceX’s
behemoth had its second ever launch,
and its first with an actual customer.
The rocket’s first flight in February
2018 sent a test payload – SpaceX
CEO Elon Musk’s car – beyond the orbit
of Mars and into the asteroid belt,
demonstrating its incredible power.
The payload for this first commercial
flight was a bit more mundane: a
communications satellite called
Arabsat-6A.
After the launch, all three boosters
came back to land. The two side
boosters returned to Cape Canaveral
in Florida, where the launch occurred

... but success

for SpaceX with

Falcon Heavy

(pictured above). The centre booster

landed on a drone ship offshore, the

first time this part of the Falcon Heavy

rocket has successfully landed (in

February, it missed the ship by a few

metres). The two side boosters will be

repaired and refurbished, and then

flown again in about two months.

This is a big step for SpaceX and

Falcon Heavy. If the boosters can be

flown again, it will prove that they can

be reused, which will help bring down

the cost of launching large satellites.

This is also the first time such a

formidable rocket has been available

to private customers, not just

governments. It is the most powerful

rocket in operation, capable of lifting

almost 64 tonnes into orbit. The only

rocket that has ever packed a bigger

punch was the Saturn V, which NASA

used to send astronauts to the moon.

Falcon Heavy is also one of the

only rockets that could get NASA to

the moon on its new, tight schedule.

US vice president Mike Pence

announced in March that the agency

would be directed to put humans on

the lunar surface by 2024. According

to subsequent statements by NASA

administrator Jim Bridenstine, the

agency’s Space Launch System rocket

would be the ideal way to get there.

But it is still under development, and

Falcon Heavy is another option. Now

that Falcon Heavy is starting to build

a record of successful flights, perhaps

that option will look more alluring.

Leah Crane ■

and in inspiring a lot of people.”

This won’t be Israel’s last

moonshot. “If at first you don’t

succeed, you try again,” said

Israeli prime minister Benjamin

Netanyahu from SpaceIL’s

mission control in Yehud, Israel,

shortly after the crash. “Israel

will land on the moon.” SpaceIL

has since announced that it will

start work on a second Beresheet

spacecraft. Leah Crane ■

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