As it happened: ispace makes second attempt at historic Moon landing

The privately-funded, Israeli-built Beresheet spacecraft failed Thursday during its historic attempt to land on the moon, seeking to become the first mission to reach the lunar surface without significant government backing. The landing was expected to occur at 1925 GMT (3:25 p.m. EDT).

NASA announced Thursday nine companies that will be eligible to compete for up to $2.6 billion in contracts over the next decade to ferry scientific instruments and tech demo payloads to the moon aboard commercial robotic landers, a first step in what agency officials said will foster expanded private investment in deep space exploration and an eventual return of humans to the lunar surface.

The Trump administration is adding an additional $1.6 billion to NASA’s $21 billion 2020 budget request to kick start plans to return American astronauts to the moon in 2024, four years earlier than previously planned, NASA announced Monday.