The Beresheet moon lander will attempt to become the first privately-funded spacecraft to reach the moon, and these photos show the robotic probe’s journey through testing inside a clean room at Israel Aerospace Industries, followed by its attachment to a multi-satellite stack for launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.
Beresheet, which means “genesis” or “in the beginning” in Hebrew, is the product of a nearly eight-year effort by SpaceIL, an Israeli non-profit. With the help of backing from billionaire entrepreneurs, and donations from Israeli companies like IAI, the spacecraft is set for launch Feb. 21 from Cape Canaveral.
Landing on the moon is scheduled for April. Read our full story for details on the mission.
The completed SpaceIL Beresheet lunar lander is pictured with its solar panels attached. Credit: SpaceILSpaceIL co-founders Kfir Damari, Yonatan Winetraub and Yariv Bash insert a time capsule on the Beresheet spacecraft. The time capsule includes three discs with digital files that will remain on the moon with the spacecraft. The discs include details on the spacecraft and the crew that built it, and national and cultural symbols, such as the Israeli flag, the Israeli national anthem, and the Bible. Credit: SpaceILThe Beresheet spacecraft inside IAI’s vacuum test chamber. Credit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILCredit: SpaceILThe Nusantara Satu spacecraft, topped with the Beresheet lunar lander and the U.S. Air Force’s S5 space situational awareness satellite, is pictured before encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload fairing at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SSL
The debut launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from a privately-operated base in New Zealand made it to space Thursday, proving the performance of major parts of the booster before faltering short of the velocity it needed to enter orbit, the company said in a statement.
In a major shakeup at NASA Headquarters, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday that Bill Gerstenmaier, the widely respected director of human spaceflight, has been replaced in the midst of an ambitious push to meet the Trump administration’s directive to send astronauts back to the moon within five years.
A commercial Falcon 9 rocket in the final stages of launch preparations fired its nine Merlin main engines Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, verifying its readiness for liftoff with a Taiwanese Earth-imaging payload Thursday.
