Communications of the ACM
Israeli Moon Lander 'On the Right Path' Despite Recent Glitch
Israel's first lunar lander is back on course for the Moon, despite recently missing a planned orbit-raising engine burn.
Credit: SpaceIL
Israel's first lunar lander, nicknamed Beresheet, is back on course for the Moon despite recently missing a planned orbit-raising engine burn due to an unexpected computer reset.
The robotic lander's human operators quickly got the spacecraft back online, and the lander managed to execute the maneuver.
After the computer reset, mission team members bolstered the lander's defenses, making the software more resilient to those kinds of events, and making sure that the proper maneuver will be executed even if the computer gets reset again.
SpaceIL, a nonprofit organization that runs Beresheet's mission along with Israel Aerospace Industries, started as an entrant in the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30-million competition that tasked privately funded teams to put a robot on the moon, have it move at least 1,650 feet (500 meters), and beam home high-resolution imagery.
The contest ended last year without a winner, but SpaceIL has continued to develop its moon lander, as have several other teams.
From Space.com
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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