Israeli Moon Lander Sends Selfie From 23,000 Miles Away
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink March 5, 2019
Beresheet, the Israeli lunar lander currently on its way to the moon, sent a selfie back to Earth from more than 23,000 miles away.
A plaque on the outside of the module, which is about the size of a washing machine, reads “small country, big dreams” and “Am Yisrael Chai” – the people of Israel live.
Beresheet, the Hebrew word for Genesis, launched last month from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It is a joint project of the company SpaceIL and Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
If Beresheet successfully lands in April, it will be the first time a private-sector initiative reaches the moon, and Israel will be the fourth country to make it there, after the United States, the Soviet Union and China.
Beresheet suffered from a computer glitch last week but recovered fast enough to carry out a key maneuver, the Times of Israel reported.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
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