Agence France-PresseDecember 10, 2020 11:45:07 AM IST
Israel on Wednesday launched the Beresheet 2 project aimed at landing an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in 2024, after a previous such mission crashed into the lunar surface. The original Beresheet, Hebrew for “Genesis”, was a tall, strangely shaped 585 kilogram (1,290 pound) spacecraft built by the Israeli NGO SpaceIL and the state-run Israel Aerospace Industries. It had reached the moon in April 2019, but suffered an engine failure while preparing to land. On Wednesday, SpaceIL was hosted by Israeli Science Minister Yizhar Shai at the residence of President Reuven Rivlin, who said the project “was an opportunity to refresh our perspective.”
“This is an opportunity to remind us of our responsibility to the Earth,” Rivlin said.
Shai, whose office of space administration is involved in the project, said he hoped Beresheet 2 would “redefine the limits of what is possible and establish Israel as an innovation powerhouse.
Beresheet 2 will be comprised of three adjacent spacecraft.
Only Russia, the United States, and China have made the 3.84,000-kilometer (2.39,000-mile) journey and landed safely on the Moon.
Read also: Israel’s Beresheet: Everything You Need To Know About The First Private Lunar Mission That Almost Made It