On Feb. 22, 2019, the Israeli SpaceIL lunar lander Beresheet (named after the first book of the Torah) was launched; on April 4, 2019 it entered lunar orbit. The audacious project was inspired, in part, by the Google Lunar X Prize contest. Unfortunately, a technical glitch caused the lander to crash onto the Moon’s surface. A second Israeli attempt to land on the Moon, Beresheet 2, is now being developed and aims for a 2024 launch.
Quote: “I am grateful to our dear donors, who believe in the power of the Beresheet 2 extraordinary mission to inspire a whole generation of students and dreamers, for their confidence in the ability of SpaceIL to realize this challenging mission, which will place Israel at the front row of global deep-space technology,” SpaceIL CEO Shimon Sarid said.
Sources: Wikipedia (introduction), The Jerusalem Post (quotation)
Learn more about the Beresheet 2 mission from Wikipedia. ►
Watch “Beresheet 2 — Everything you need to know about our next mission to the Moon” [1:16]. ►
Read “Israel will aim for the moon again in 2024 with Beresheet 2 mission” ►
Read “SpaceIL obtains $70 million for Beresheet 2 Moon mission” ►
Photo: Room, The Space Journal
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