Israeli spaceship on track for historic moon landing Thursday
MELBOURNE, Fla. – Seven weeks after launching from Cape Canaveral, a small Israeli spacecraft is closing in on an attempt to become the first privately funded mission to land on the moon.
The lander named Beresheet (“In the beginning” in Hebrew), developed by nonprofit SpaceIL and Israeli Aerospace Industries, on Thursday successfully completed a six-minute engine firing to slow its speed and enter lunar orbit.
The critical maneuver set the stage for a touchdown in the Sea of Tranquility around 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday.
SpaceIL reported Beresheet being on a good trajectory heading into a series of “intense maneuvers” to set up the soft-landing attempt, the first on the moon by an Israeli spacecraft or one not funded by a government space agency.
The spacecraft sent back images of the moon’s crater-pocked far side with Earth a small, glowing orb in the distance.
The $100 million mission originated as a competitor for the Google Lunar XPrize, which ended without a winner.
The philanthropist-backed venture launched Feb. 21 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, hitching a ride with an Indonesian communications satellite.
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