Israeli moon lander launches successfully from Cape Canaveral
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Israeli moon lander launches successfully from Cape Canaveral

By Ben Sales / JTA February 22, 2019, 1:27 pm Edit
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, holding Israel's SpaceIL lunar lander, named Beresheet, launches from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Feb. 21, 2019. (Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, holding Israel's SpaceIL lunar lander, named Beresheet, launches from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Feb. 21, 2019. (Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

An Israeli spacecraft is officially on its way to the moon.

The lunar lander built by SpaceIL successfully launched aboard a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida Thursday night. If it reaches the moon and lands successfully, it will make Israel the fourth country ever — after the Soviet Union, the U.S. and China — to land a spacecraft on the moon.

After separating from the rocket, the SpaceIL craft, named “Beresheet,” Hebrew for Genesis, will travel around Earth in progressively larger orbits,  eventually entering the moon’s orbit and touching down for a landing there. That is expected to occur on April 11.

“Once, it seemed imaginary; today this is reality,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in a video after the launch. “Beresheet landing on the moon is a giant step for all of Israel. This is a first-rate technological, scientific and and educational project.”

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