Seconds away from landing on the moon, the Beresheet spacecraft's main engine failed. At a cost of $100 million, it is considered one of "the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission."
"We didn't make it, but we definitely tried," project originator and major backer Morris Kahn said in a live videocast from mission control near Tel Aviv.
"I think that the achievement of getting to where we got is really tremendous, I think we can be proud," he said.
#Beresheet's main engine fail! Spacecraft failed landing. Appeared to have crashed on the moon's surface!
— Israel Space Agency 🇮🇱 (@ILSpaceAgency) April 11, 2019
The aim of the mission was to take pictures and conduct experiments.
The landing sequence of the Beresheet spaceship lasted around 21 minutes, during which it suffered periodic engine and communications failures. Its circuitous flight path was around 4 million miles (6.5 million kilometers) — a direct route from the Earth to the moon is about 240,000 miles.
Scientists were still trying to figure out what caused the engine failure.
This is the last picture we have from Beresheet spaceship seconds before it touches the face of the moon. It didn't go as planned but we couldn't be more proud!!#IsraelToTheMoon pic.twitter.com/EnFlgBJTyv
— EIPA (@EIPA_EU) April 11, 2019
Beresheet, which is Hebrew for “Genesis” or “in the beginning”, was a joint project between SpaceIL, a privately funded Israeli non-profit organisation, and Israel Aerospace Industries.
It was launched in February on an unmanned rocket from a NASA launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket was a Falcon 9 from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Only three countries have successfully carried out a "soft" landing on the moon, including the US, China and the now-defunct Soviet Union. The United States however remains the only country to have walked on the moon, with 12 astronauts having taken part in six missions between 1969 and 1972.
The Israeli mission came amid renewed global interest in the moon, 50 years after American astronauts first walked on its surface.
China's Chang'e-4 made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on January 3, after a probe sent by Beijing made a lunar landing elsewhere in 2013.
US President Donald Trump's administration announced in March it was speeding up plans to send American astronauts back to the moon, bringing forward the target date from 2028 to 2024.
India hopes to become the next lunar country in the spring with its Chandrayaan-2 mission. It aims to put a craft with a rover onto the moon's surface to collect data.
Japan plans to send a small lunar lander, called SLIM, to study a volcanic area around 2020-2021.
Daily Pakistan Global Web Desk
KARACHI - Following are the foreign currency exchange rates for US Dollar, Saudi Riyal, UK Pound Sterling, U.A.E. Dirham, European Euro, and other foreign currencies in Pakistan open market on February 1, 2023 (Wednesday).
Source: Forex Association of Pakistan. (last update 09:00 AM)
Currency | Symbol | Buying | Selling |
US Dollar | USD | 269.9 | 272.85 |
Euro | EUR | 290.22 | 290.82 |
UK Pound Sterling | GBP | 330.48 | 331.18 |
U.A.E Dirham | AED | 72.78 | 73.08 |
Saudi Riyal | SAR | 71.23 | 71.53 |
Australian Dollar | AUD | 190 | 193 |
Bahrain Dinar | BHD | 702.68 | 710.68 |
Canadian Dollar | CAD | 201.75 | 205 |
China Yuan | CNY | 39.15 | 39.55 |
Danish Krone | DKK | 38.6 | 39 |
Hong Kong Dollar | HKD | 33.72 | 34.07 |
Indian Rupee | INR | 3.24 | 3.35 |
Japanese Yen | JPY | 2.5 | 2.54 |
Kuwaiti Dinar | KWD | 865.31 | 874.31 |
Malaysian Ringgit | MYR | 62.24 | 62.84 |
New Zealand Dollar | NZD | 171.35 | 173.35 |
Norwegians Krone | NOK | 26.76 | 27.06 |
Omani Riyal | OMR | 686.49 | 694.49 |
Qatari Riyal | QAR | 72.58 | 73.28 |
Singapore Dollar | SGD | 201.2 | 203.2 |
Swedish Korona | SEK | 25.45 | 25.75 |
Swiss Franc | CHF | 286.19 | 288.69 |
Thai Bhat | THB | 8.06 | 8.21 |
KARACHI – The price of a single tola of 24-karat gold in Pakistan is Rs202,000 on Wednesday. The price of 10 grams of 24k gold was recorded at Rs173,190.
Likewise, 10 grams of 22k gold were being traded for Rs164,500 while a single tola of 22-karat gold was being sold at Rs 179,100.
Note: The gold rate in Pakistan is fluctuating according to the international market so the price is never been fixed. The below rates are provided by local gold markets and Sarafa Markets of different cities.
City | Gold | Silver |
Lahore | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Karachi | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Islamabad | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Peshawar | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Quetta | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Sialkot | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Attock | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Gujranwala | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Jehlum | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Multan | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Bahawalpur | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Gujrat | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Nawabshah | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Chakwal | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Hyderabad | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Nowshehra | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Sargodha | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Faisalabad | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
Mirpur | PKR 202,000 | PKR 2,390 |
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