Page 28 - aruba-today-20190223

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 23 February 2019

Israel flying to moon after

SpaceX launch

By MARCIA DUNN as it rose in the eastern sky. Beresheet mission couldn’t
AP Aerospace Writer Within an hour after liftoff, afford its own rocket —
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Beresheet was already even a little one — so the
(AP) — An Israeli space- sending back data and organizers opted for a ride
craft rocketed toward the had successfully deployed share. That makes for a
moon for the country’s first its landing legs, according much longer trip; the moon
attempted lunar landing, to SpaceIL. right now is nearly 230,000
following a launch Thurs- “We’ll keep analyzing the miles (370,000 kilometers)
day night by SpaceX. data, but bottom line is we away.
A communications satellite entered the very exclusive “This is Uber-style space
for Indonesia was the main group of countries that exploration, so we’re rid-
cargo aboard the Falcon have launched a space- ing shotgun on the rocket,”
9 rocket, which illuminated craft to the moon,” said Winetraub explained at a
the sky as it took flight. But Yigal Harel, head of Spa- news conference on the
Israel’s privately funded lu- ceIL’s spacecraft program. eve of launch.
nar lander — a first not just Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- The U.S. Air Force also has
for Israel but commercial tanyahu was watching the a small research space-
space — generated the launch live from the Israeli craft aboard the rocket, for
buzz. control center in Yehud, a one-year mission in orbit
Israel seeks to become only near Tel Aviv. around Earth.
the fourth country to suc- “This is a big step for Israel, The Soviet Union was the
cessfully land on the moon, but a giant step for Israeli first to put a spacecraft
after Russia, the U.S. and technology,” he said. on the moon, Luna 2, in A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with Israel’s Lunar Lander
China. The spacecraft — The four-legged Beresheet, 1959. NASA followed with and an Indonesian communications satellite at space launch
called Beresheet, Hebrew barely the size of a washing the Ranger 4 spacecraft complex 40, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
for Genesis or “In The Begin- machine, will circle Earth in in 1962. Last month, China Associated Press
ning” — will take nearly two ever bigger loops until it’s became the first country to rations beyond low-Earth moon,” Aldrin tweeted.
months to reach the moon. captured by lunar gravity land on the far side of the orbit and on to the moon.” The Beresheet mission
“We thought it’s about time and goes into orbit around moon. NASA has a laser reflec- originally was part of the
for a change, and we want the moon. Touchdown Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz tor aboard Beresheet and Google Lunar XPrize com-
to get little Israel all the way would be April 11 at the Aldrin quickly offered con- is offering its Deep Space petition and even made
to the moon,” said Yonatan Sea of Serenity. gratulations following Thurs- Network for communica- the final cut before the
Winetraub, co-founder of NASA’s Apollo missions in day’s launch. So did NASA tion. contest ended last year
Israel’s SpaceIL , a nonprof- the 1960s and 1970s took Administrator Jim Briden- “All the best to @TeamSpa- without a winner. The or-
it organization behind the about three days to get as- stine, who called it “a his- ceIL as it starts its journey to- ganizers decided to press
effort. tronauts to the moon, but toric step for all nations and night on a @SpaceX #Fal- ahead on their own, with
The moon, nearly full and they used monstrous Saturn commercial space as we con9 from Florida to my donations from billionaires
glowing brightly, beckoned V rockets. The $100 million look to extend our collabo- old stomping ground ...the as well as schoolchildren.q

Japanese spacecraft touches down on asteroid to get samples

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese During the touchdown,
spacecraft touched down Hayabusa2 is programmed
on a distant asteroid Friday to extend a pipe and shoot
on a mission to collect ma- a pinball-like object into
terial that could provide the asteroid to blow up
clues to the origin of the so- material from beneath the
lar system and life on Earth. surface. If that succeeds,
Workers at the Japan Aero- the craft would then col-
space Exploration Agency lect samples to eventu-
control center applauded ally be sent back to Earth.
Friday as a signal sent from Three such touchdowns
space indicated the Hay- are planned.
abusa2 spacecraft had Japanese Education Min-
touched down. ister Masahiko Shibayama

This image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the shadow,
center above, of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft after its successful touchdown on the asteroid Ryugu
Friday, Feb. 22, 2019.
Associated Press
said the space agency had space agency is known, The asteroid, named Ryugu
concluded from its data af- has likened the touchdown after an undersea palace
ter the first touchdown that attempts to trying to land in a Japanese folktale, is
the steps to collect samples on a baseball mound from about 900 meters (3,000
were performed success- the spacecraft’s operating feet) in diameter and 280
fully. location of 20 kilometers (12 million kilometers (170 mil-
JAXA, as the Japanese miles) above the asteroid. lion miles) from Earth.q