From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 11, 2019
In an hour: Israel’s Beresheet probe begins landing on moon
After 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers, the Beresheet journey is set to draw to a close on Thursday night as the four-legged spacecraft aims to land on the moon’s surface at 10:25 p.m. (Israel time), with the livestream beginning at 9:45 p.m. If successful, it will make Israel the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon.
If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will gently set down on the Sea of Serenity, and spend two to three days carrying out science experiments studying the moon’s magnetic field before the sun’s rays will become too strong and disable the spacecraft’s computers.
— Melanie Lidman
A little shtick from the Israel Aviation Authority before Beresheet (hopefully) lands on the moon in a little over an hour. (Note the destination of the last flight on the departures board at Ben Gurion Airport.)
????: IAA pic.twitter.com/Tk6VjydBkq— Judah Ari Gross (@JudahAriGross) April 11, 2019
