SpaceX successfully completed its 70th mission: Israeli probe flies to the moon

The company SpaceX many grandiose projects like the construction of a million of satellite ground stations for the project Starlink. However, the organization Elon musk does not forget to accept and fulfill orders from the outside: she has successfully completed the 70-th under the account the mission and sent into orbit of the lunar probe “Genesis” from the Israeli company SpaceIL. Booster made the Falcon 9 first stage which was used for the third time.

Лунный зонд SpaceIL Beresheet

Probe “Genesis” on his way to the moon company SpaceIL has already confirmed the performance of the spacecraft and assured that he holds the right course. It is expected that he will land on the surface of the satellite very soon, namely on 11 April 2019. If everything goes without errors and unexpected problems, Israel will become the fourth country to plant a probe on the moon. Among these countries at the moment include Russia, USA and China.

Лунный зонд SpaceIL Beresheet

In addition, the “Genesis” will be the first lunar mission by a private company. The device was developed for the Google Lunar X Prize, a prize Fund which amounted to $ 20 million. In March 2018 the competition was canceled due to the fact that no company met the deadline, however SpaceIL still continued the development of the unit.

The name of the probe can be translated from Hebrew as “Being”. He weighs 585 pounds and about 400 pounds is the weight of fuel required for a flight to the moon. The lander is equipped with a magnetometer, reflectors and a high resolution camera. The camera will take a photo of the instruments remaining after the mission “Luna-21” (USSR, 1973) and “Apollo 17” (USA, 1972).

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