Israel's Beresheet spacecraft fails to land safely on Moon

Jerusalem, Apr 12: Israeli spacecraft on Thursday failed in its attempt to make history as first privately funded mission to the moon.

The robotic Beresheet spacecraft, built by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), aimed to become the first Israeli craft, and the first privately funded mission, ever to land softly on the moon.

But the spacecraft couldn't quite make it, crashing into the gray dirt around 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT). Mission control lost communications with the spacecraft when it was about 489 feet (149 meters) above the moon's surface.

"If at first you don't succeed, you try again," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who watched Beresheet's landing attempt from SpaceIL's control center in Yehud, Israel.

Beresheet is the smallest spacecraft ever to be sent to the moon. It is roughly the size of a washing machine, reaching a height of 1.5 meters, about two meters in width, and weighing just 600 kilograms.

The spacecraft has taken a number of stunning images and videos from its journey since it was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday, February 22, 2019 at 3:45 am Israel time.