Israel Lander Crashes Into Moon, Dashing Hopes of Historic Mission

(Bloomberg) -- Israel failed to become the first nation to land a privately financed spacecraft on the moon when “Beresheet” crashed before a scheduled touch down in the Sea of Tranquility late Thursday night.

Opher Doron of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. said the main engine failed a few kilometers above the surface. That meant it couldn't slow the craft's descent, causing it to crash. The $100 million project was conceived by SpaceIL, and financed mostly by philanthropists including Morris Kahn—SpaceIL's president and a founder of Amdocs Ltd.—and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “if at first you don't succeed, you try again. We'll try again.” Yariv Bash, a founder of Space IL, said they will send another probe up within two or three years.

Israelis around the country gathered to watch the landing, including at the president's residence. The arrivals and departures board at Ben-Gurion International Airport showed one unusual destination among the typical ones: “Moon.” Netanyahu attended the main event at IAI's headquarters, shaking hands with engineers in the control room before the scheduled landing.

“We're not just on the map—we're on the map of the moon,” he said. “This has consequences—not just for Israel but for the world.”

Israel's prior experience in space has also been marred by disaster. The country's first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, died in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In 2016, an Israeli-made satellite was destroyed when the SpaceX rocket it was on blew up during a launch test.

“It's part of this business. It's a risky business,” said Ehud Hayun, systems engineer for IAI. “Space is hard.”

Beresheet launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Feb. 22, aboard a SpaceX rocket. The probe separated from the vehicle after a half-hour, orbiting the Earth in larger and larger ellipses before entering the moon's gravitational pull about a week ago.

To save size and money, Beresheet's designers decided to skip the kind of backup systems for power, communications and the like that are standard on most spacecraft. That left no margin for error if any key system failed.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net

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