Posted on 02/22/2019 7:59:14 AM PST by BenLurkin
The robotic lander, called Beresheet, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yesterday evening (Feb. 21) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If everything goes according to plan, Beresheet will zip around Earth for about six weeks in ever-widening orbits before heading toward its final destination. The craft will arrive in lunar orbit in early April and attempt a landing on the 11th of that month.
Beresheet's lengthy stay in Earth orbit may seem surprising. After all, China's Chang'e 4 farside lander reached lunar orbit just 4.5 days after its Dec. 7 liftoff (though Chang'e 4 didn't actually touch down until Jan. 2).
But the 5-foot-tall (1.5 meters) Beresheet cannot take a direct path to the moon, project team members said, because the lander shared a rocket ride with two other payloads. Also aboard the Falcon 9 last night were an Indonesian communications satellite and an experimental U.S. Air Force craft, both of which are making Earth orbit their home.
And you can't just jet straight off to the moon from Earth orbit, Winetraub said; the two celestial bodies must be lined up properly before Beresheet,,, can make its move.
"The moon is coming around, and we're doing our own orbit, and we need to synchronize everything," Winetraub said. "For that, we need to do something that's called 'phasing loops,' to make sure that the moon comes around in the right position so you can capture with it. And that takes time."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Went out in the front yard last night and watched this baby take off.
Man o man what a beautiful flight.
Very clear sky.
Could see it far after it jettisoned its initial rockets.
Too kool.
Look. If we can change the climate, we can change the position of the sun, moon, and earth, making rocket travel to the moon take only one or two days. A straight path.
The Booster made a perfect landing on the Drone Ship as well.
It is simply amazing to see how the Science and Technology has improved.
Love or hate Elon Musk, he is a visionary.
All the way the right hand blinker will be on....
Man, Kickass,
First time I saw one of those land on its floating platform I said oh baby.
Conservative in Calif. huh?
Bet that is a lonely deal.
Nice
“Beresheet will zip around Earth for about six weeks in ever-widening orbits before heading toward its final destination.”
Seriously, it must just BURN the 1.5 billion Moslems that they can’t build a spacecraft, but 1/2 of the world’s Jews could, while simultaneously being vastly militarily superior to them, and having little things like electricity, running water and a working cell phone system that they designed and built all on their own. Just saying....
[Another article I read about this said the craft carries a copy of the Torah. Odd the space.com article doesn’t mention that.]
Certainly wouldn’t make certain folks from the previous administration happy. Thanks for noting.
So we’re taking an Uber to get there....
Yep, I’m even lonelier driving around with my “TRUMP 45” Vanity License Plates. Actually there are a lot of closet Conservatives where I live.
They see my License Plates and come up and shake my hand. Then they tell me there is no way they would have the guts to put anything Trump on thei Cars.
It’s an adaptation of the Hohmann transfer combined with gravitational assist, i.e., the slingshot maneuver, only it repeatedly slingshots around the earth.
It only took Alice Kramden a few seconds...BANG....ZOOM!
Shakey the Mohel! Ha ha!
I have a couple who constantly go on cruises.
They are both avid Bernie supporting retired teachers.
When they came home from their last cruise there was a large Trump 2020 sign right in the middle of their yard.
One could hear audible screams when they arrived home.
Laughed so hard i nearly peed my britches,
mbarker12474 wrote:
“Look. If we can change the climate, we can change the position of the sun, moon, and earth, making rocket travel to the moon take only one or two days. A straight path.”
LOL!
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