Israel to Land First Private Spacecraft on the Moon

The moon's next visitor is different. SpaceIL's Beresheet — Hebrew for "In the Beginning" — will become the first privately funded mission to launch from Earth and land on the moon, and the first spacecraft to propel itself over the lunar surface after landing by "hopping" on its rocket engine to a second landing spot. The mission marks yet another milestone, not only in the history and technical arc of space exploration, but also in how humankind goes about space exploration.

The Beresheet lander is about the size and shape of a family dinner table, roughly 6 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, weighing (on Earth) about 350 pounds. This doesn't include the nearly 1,000 pounds of fuel needed to land the spacecraft on the moon. Carrying instrumentation to measure the magnetic field of the moon, a laser-reflector provided by NASA and a time-capsule of cultural and historical Israeli artifacts, the mission will ride into space as a secondary payload — like a rideshare passenger — aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

First Private Lunar Spacecraft Shoots for the Moon

Israel plans to have the Beresheet lander touchdown on the moon in February 2019. The moon is seeing a lot of activity lately. It is sure to see more missions head it's way as governments and industry race to exploit the resources on the moon.

FIRST they cure cancer...and now, THIS!
GO ISRAEL!

a reply to: LookingAtMars

and a time-capsule of cultural and historical Israeli artifacts

Interesting , and a bit strange.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

The Jews got us there first so it's only fitting....

Ha

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Great to see the increasing lunar activity, and what a neat looking lander they got!

There's more to come later this year: if everything goes well, Audi will be deploying it's Quattro Lunar Rover to inspect the Apollo 17 landing site while beaming down an HD video stream:

Source

Exciting times ahead, indeed

This is the kind of news we could use more of in this world. I love to see Governments using their resources for exploration and human achievement rather than trying to control humanity.

Should it be any big surprise that without the help of the USA (it's launching from Cape Canaveral and carrying NASA equipment after all) this wouldn't be happening? We are Israel's interest (and debt) free bank.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Private enterprises entering space projects has been overall successful and will certainly advance the exploration, along with the profitable orbital satellite missions. Government programs will take the lead in exploration missions in the near future, but private enterprise will play an important part.

Who will it be that successfully put the first person on Mars and when? That will be interesting, and how much will it be private enterprise effort at some profitable point?

Somebody explain why suddenly So many governments are shooting for the moon? After all those years that No One wanted to go there.
Mighty suspicious

originally posted by: IAMTAT
FIRST they cure cancer...and now, THIS!
GO ISRAEL!

Yea.. lets forget that they torture and oppress Palestinians... Go Israel because they did it all on their own without billions from the u.s. ……….

AnyOne know if they were specifically "Chosen" for this???

a reply to: blueman12


AzureHombre-

Granted I went to Public School in the 60s and 70s but $38 Billion spread over 10 years is "Mazel Tov" all over...

I'd opine the proponents of the "New Math" would even agree, "somebody is making out.." but I'm betting it would be phrased differently "Some Cis neutral bio entity is "cashing in"..." or words to that effect...

originally posted by: FreeFalling
Somebody explain why suddenly So many governments are shooting for the moon? After all those years that No One wanted to go there.
Mighty suspicious

Can't win really, can they?

Not been back to the Moon = Suspicious.

Going back to the Moon = Suspicious.

After all those years that No One wanted to go there.

Apart from China, India, Japan...?

Space.com: Lunar Missions Timeline

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: LookingAtMars

and a time-capsule of cultural and historical Israeli artifacts

Interesting , and a bit strange.

maybe they think establishing cultural items and what not there makes a stronger "we were here first" claim when stealing land on the moon, they are the experts in land theft as a national government.

IS this how the movie Spaceballs comes into reality?


Use the Schwartz!

a reply to: SerenTheUniverse

maybe they think establishing cultural items and what not there makes a stronger "we were here first" claim when stealing land on the moon, they are the experts in land theft as a national government.

I think that likely , after pondering on it last night that was the only thing that made sense , if or when there's a land grab on the Moon having an area that's home to your cultural and historical artifacts is a pretty strong claim that the area is yours.

If nothing else it's shrewd forward thinking.

a reply to: gortex

we think similar, there was a definite reason for the time capsule with artifacts, and the only one I can think of is the Israeli state claiming land on the moon.

originally posted by: FreeFalling
Somebody explain why suddenly So many governments are shooting for the moon? After all those years that No One wanted to go there.
Mighty suspicious

They've actually been quite a few times.

China is currently on its 4th lunar mission, ESA sent a probe, India sent one, as did Japan, there have been numerous other unmanned probes as well.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: LookingAtMars
The Jews got us there first so it's only fitting....
Ha

You're thinking of the Nazis.

If I had enough money to send a spaceship to a planet, I think I'd send it to Venus. It would have a solar-powered dirigible on it that would sail around in the upper atmosphere dropping genetically engineered bacteria down that ate sulfur and pooped out water. Chew up about 99 percent of the atmosphere there, let it rain for a few millennia, and then it might be a little easier to visit. Or maybe after a few billion years whatever evolves there could build their own rockets and do the same to Earth. We'll be gone, but our crazy desire to go other planets could live on.