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Israel To Launch First Privately Funded Moon Mission (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A team of Israeli scientists is to launch what will be the first privately funded mission to land on the moon this week, sending a spacecraft to collect data from the lunar surface. Named Beresheet, the Hebrew word for Genesis, the 585kg (1,290lb) robotic lander will blast off from Florida at 01.45 GMT on Friday, propelled by one of Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. Once it touches down, in several weeks, it will measure the magnetic field of the moon to help understand how it formed. Beresheet will also deposit a "time capsule" of digital files the size of coins containing the Bible, children's drawings, Israel's national anthem and blue and white flag, as well as memories of a Holocaust survivor. While it is not a government-led initiative, the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) corporation joined as a partner. If the mission is successful, Israel will become the fourth country, after Russia, the U.S. and China, to reach the moon. "This is the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission," an IAI statement said of the $100 million project. "The superpowers who managed to land a spacecraft on the moon have spent hundreds of millions." It added that although it was a private venture, Beresheet was a "national and historic achievement."
Yes, 50 years ago, and having to develop the entire thing from scratch instead of opening a bunch of catalogs and buying the parts.
So the Iz are going to put a thing atop an American rocket and claim they "reached the moon"?
So far, the posts in response to this article are all sarcastic and cynical, mocking the claim of "reaching the moon" when they are just hitching a ride on SpaceX, not to mention riding the coattails of big nation states that have spent billions over half a century to develop the foundational technologies and do it all in grander style. But think about the historical significance of this. It may be small potatoes in a sense, but it is indeed the first time that a non-governmental low budget endeavor gets there (if it succeeds). The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You cannot do something the 2nd and 3rd time without doing it the first time. Making inexpensive or commercially feasible trips to the moon with some regularity will depend on projects of this magnitude and expense, and at some point, somebody does it first, and this is it.
True, they are not running the whole show themselves. The launch comes from a an established carrier. But therein is another wondrous thing. A government rocket is not lifting them, a private enterprise is. And don't forget that with complex technologies, businesses are highly interconnected and dependent on each other - no one company can do it all themselves - even NASA needed thousands of subcontractors to get Apollo there and back. Furthermore, all they are doing with SpaceX is getting off the ground, and nowadays, that's easy. Not so easy is dropping out of orbit and landing, without overshooting or crashing, and the Israeli craft will do that on its own. And, a small potatoes budget forces you to be clever, and how they are going to get from low orbit to the moon on minimum weight and fuel is itself inspiring, lessons to be learned for all the moon trekkers who hope to follow.
If nothing else, this kind of event can inspire other pioneers and entrepreneurs that it can be done. Something hasn't been done until the moment it is done, and whoever did it, they were the first. Their pride is understandable. You would be too if you were the first, and we would equally applaud and be inspired by you. This opens the gates, and more will follow. Who knows, next could be the Jamaican bob-rocket team. (And instead of Tang, rum and mauby.)
You have to understand, no Jewish woman would ever take anything that's not 10% off.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.