(Photo By: Courtesy of Space IL)
By: Yafit Ovadia/CTech - December 9, 2020
CTech – After the crash-landing of the Beresheet spacecraft two years ago, the Israeli space startup SpaceIL announced Israel’s next Moon mission on Wednesday.
“Israel is going back to the Moon,” said SpaceIL co-founder Kfir Damari during a live-streamed announcement from the Israeli President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Under the new plan, Israel will launch a spacecraft named Beresheet 2 — the Hebrew title of the book of Genesis — in 2024. It will be sent into space from the American launch base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, like its predecessor. The spacecraft will be composed of three parts: an orbiter and two lunar landers which will descend on different parts on the Moon. One will remain on the Moon and feature an ongoing interactive program for Israeli schoolchildren, while routinely collecting data and conducting scientific experiments; while the orbiter will stay in space circling the moon for years, conducting experiments and collecting data.
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