NPR

Israel Launches Spacecraft To The Moon

If the mission is successful, it would make Israel the fourth country to land on the lunar surface – after the U.S., the former Soviet Union and China.
The Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL displayed the spacecraft in December in Yehud, east of Tel Aviv, and added a time capsule for it to carry to the moon.

Updated at 11 p.m. ET

An Israeli spacecraft blasted off this evening, aiming to land on the moon. And if the mission is successful, it would make Israel the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface – after the U.S., the former Soviet Union and China.

It would also be the first privately. "The feat seems set to kick off a new era of lunar exploration – one in which national space agencies work alongside private industries to investigate and exploit the moon and its resources," Nature added.

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