Israel‘s first attempt at landing an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon today ended in a hard landing after an engine failure caused it to miss its descent window. While it’s unfortunate the craft’s journey ended abruptly, the mission should be lauded as a total success. The craft, named Beresheet (translated: in the beginning), was slated…
Israel‘s first attempt at landing an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon today ended in a hard landing after an engine failure caused it to miss its descent window. While it’s unfortunate the craft’s journey ended abruptly, the mission should be lauded as a total success.
The craft, named Beresheet (translated: in the beginning), was slated to touch down on the surface of the Moon at approximately 3:25 PM PST, but communications with the vessel were lost upon impact. The Israeli Aerospace Industry’s space division and SpaceIL, the non-profit that sent the craft into space, are currently indicating they presume it to be damaged beyond further function.
Whenever an organization takes on a monumentally difficult project that seems to test the limits of plausibility, in the tech world, it’s referred to as a moonshot. SpaceIL’s attempt at landing Beresheet on the moon today is exactly why. The sheer enormity of the undertaking makes it seem impossible, but thanks to some amazing rocket science, Israel has joined the short list of nations that have so much as sent a craft into the Moon‘s orbit. Only three – The US, Russia, and China – have successfully completed a soft-landing.
