Israel’s moonshot failed to touch down in final seconds

Beresheet, the privately-funded SpaceI-IAE moon project successfully completed all its assigned maneuvers but failed to touch down on the moon. During its six-week voyage, the mooncraft broke out of earth’s orbit to circle the moon in ever decreasing elliptical cycles, reducing speed until it was minutes away from landing on the moon on Thursday night, April 11. The lander had been operating autonomously according to instructions fed into its computer in advance. Then, suddenly, while orbiting the moon at 6,000km/h, shortly before making its schedule autonomous descent, the main engine developed a fault and contact was lost with the control room at Israeli Aerospace Industries. Instead of making a soft landing, Beresheet went into free fall 25km above the surface and 800km from the landing site. The project, which if successful, would have made Israel the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon after the US, Russia and China, took eight years of preparation and an investment of $100m in private funds and donations. Israel will have to settle for being the seventh country in the world to attempt a moon landing and try again.

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44 thoughts on “Israel’s moonshot failed to touch down in final seconds

  • Apr 11, 2019 @ 23:57 at 23:57
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    Why the need to prove Israel is the “equal” of the technological superpowers ?!
    If for “fun”, $100 000 000 is very expensive…

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 3:08 at 3:08
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      Sent it near the supposed landing area of APOLLO 11 and with a rover (with double TV-color cameras)… a lot of people in the entire world would be willing to pay in order to know the truth (an alternative truth or the old one)

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 3:09 at 3:09
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      Sent it near the supposed landing area of APOLLO 11 and with a rover (with double-stereo TV-color cameras)… a lot of people in the entire world would be willing to pay in order to watch by themselves and know the truth (an alternative truth or the old one).

      • Apr 12, 2019 @ 5:14 at 5:14
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        A MORON like you would say the video is fake.

        Get on a ship and take video and GPS of the edge of the Flat Earth. LOL!

        • Apr 12, 2019 @ 8:05 at 8:05
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          The video is not fake, there is data and pictures from the Mossad’s robotic Moon-vehicle confirming it.
          The 800km offset in landing was intended, the purpose being echo-detection by the shock waves, just in case some Moon-Palestinians are hiding in deep caves under the surface.

          • Apr 12, 2019 @ 9:49 at 9:49
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            Der Guardian: Zionists Bomb the Moon! Indigenous Lunar Palestinian children, journalists and medics injured and killed in unprovoked Zionist attack!

      • Apr 13, 2019 @ 6:23 at 6:23
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        Hamas saboteurs have done it ..

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 8:33 at 8:33
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      Was it hacked by the Ruskies, or the Chinese?

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 16:20 at 16:20
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      George Mallory the famous British mountaineer was asked in 1920 “Why did you climb Mount Everest?”
      He replied “Because it’s there”

      Go Israel!….. to the moon, and beyond!
      Am Yisroel Chai

      So proud,
      JG

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 22:53 at 22:53
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      It was the American who sent the failed mission to the moon? not Israel.

  • Apr 11, 2019 @ 23:58 at 23:58
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    Why the need to prove Israel is the “equal” of the technological superpowers ?!
    If for “fun”, $100 000 000 is very expensive…

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 1:00 at 1:00
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      It is about getting experience and expertise, which can be used in other spheres including military one. israel has no resources to dig out and sell, Israel has no large market for home grown consumer goods industries, Israel has no choice but to be technological superpower to earn her living, beyond that we are strongly disliked but tolerated only because we make some things much better than goim, and deemed useful for them.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 8:38 at 8:38
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      It was curious how SpaceIL interview with BBC was repeatedly interrupted ad broken into yesterday am – fingerprints of the hacking nation?

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 0:34 at 0:34
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    typical Israeli driver…. get there fast…. park on the sidewalk

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 1:08 at 1:08
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    Ah ja ja ja…!!!

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 1:10 at 1:10
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    Ja ja ja.. Los goim americanos, rusos y chinos lo hicieron mejor!

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 1:47 at 1:47
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    I am proud of God of Israel.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 2:43 at 2:43
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    It’s a shame, I was hoping they’d find a new Palestinian homeland while they were up there.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 5:15 at 5:15
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      Pal-e-SWINE is on the Dark Side of the Moon.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 2:48 at 2:48
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    No worries – Israel is already the technological leader of the world. And we all know that one day Israel/Zion will be the governmental Head of the Nations, with the entire world looking to Zion for leadership.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 4:38 at 4:38
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      Amen

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 4:39 at 4:39
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      Lesson one for the world: how to use drones on children flying kites.

      • Apr 12, 2019 @ 5:12 at 5:12
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        Lol, you’re so naive you must be one of the “children”!

        • Apr 12, 2019 @ 6:34 at 6:34
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          Nobody holds a candle to the squatter-snipers when it comes to attacking medics, either.

          Leadership for the world, indeed.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 5:10 at 5:10
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    Sad, but no big deal. How many failures had the Russians, the USA and China before succeeding?

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 5:19 at 5:19
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    I believe that the main engine failed as the craft was descending from lunar orbit, not prior to the descent phase as the article states.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 7:14 at 7:14
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    Welcome to the sixties. Attempting to do something that was done more than 50 years ago and failing miserably.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 7:17 at 7:17
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    The Ruskies were sending monkeys in space. Israel could send some Palestinians until they work the bugs out. Lol

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 7:29 at 7:29
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      Correction: The US and Iran sent monkeys in space. Ruskies sent dogs mostly.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 9:41 at 9:41
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      Monkeys are more intelligent and trustworthy than a Pal-e-SWINIAN or their fellow Syrians/Jordanians/Iraqis/Turks.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 10:29 at 10:29
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      this is really the dirtiest discrimination I have heard since the Israeli palestinian dispute , and I am sure a lot of israeli agree with me . One thing i will be telling you ; God will never , ever , allow such people to prevail on earth and for sure , mostly , in space

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 10:33 at 10:33
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      this is really the dirtiest discrimination I have heard since the Israeli palestinian dispute , and I am sure a lot of israeli agree with me . One thing i will be telling you ; God will never , ever , allow such people like you to prevail on earth and for sure , mostly , in space

      • Apr 12, 2019 @ 16:40 at 16:40
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        You have to understand how this page works. First, Mossad tosses out their garbage citing unnamed sources with bad intelligence.

        Then the antisemitic brigade of arrogant, ignorant losers comes out to talk about how big and strong the squatters are because they won a war in which they attacked their benefactor more than 50 years ago.

        They’re racist, because they’re jealous.

    • Apr 12, 2019 @ 13:19 at 13:19
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      No, its better to send kofim, they are smarter.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 8:33 at 8:33
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    Elon failed too, but kept going.
    This is how progress is done.

    There are going to be a lot of exciting things happening on the Moon
    good that Israel will be part of it.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 9:09 at 9:09
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    Disappointing yes. But, it still shows, while the Arabs are working on their balloon technology to burn agriculture, the Jews are making drones to fly to the moon. Nothing better shows the great disparity between man and savages.

    • Apr 13, 2019 @ 6:38 at 6:38
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      Exactly right, the difference between men and savages is striking.

      • Apr 15, 2019 @ 17:56 at 17:56
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        The comments should revolve around the lunar mission and not politics. As a Jew, I am disgusted by the mean-spirited racism and denigration of Palestinians and Arabs that are so prevalent in the comments.

  • Apr 12, 2019 @ 14:29 at 14:29
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    Come on guys, be proud of what was accomplished.
    Israel managed to make and send a robotic payload all the way to the moon and it even hit at the right spot.
    Loss of one critical event, after completing several thousand other complex calculations, remote corrections and timing sequences, and it simply impacted too hard.
    Give the team a break, they made it 240,000 on target!
    Wonderful accomplishment, you should be proud of Israel.

  • Apr 13, 2019 @ 4:40 at 4:40
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    This is all very sad. The big bad Persians will laugh at us. Probably Putin, too.

    To quell my sorrow, I’ll retreat with solemnity. A piggie shall enter me tonight, as mom and dad advised.

  • Apr 13, 2019 @ 6:00 at 6:00
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    If the US really sent men to the Moon in the 60’s and 70’s why are we using upgraded variants of their equipment instead of recreating and engineering everything from scratch and still not have the supposed lift capacity of the Saturn V. I won’t even start on redesigning the Capsule and Lander from scratch again……

    • Apr 13, 2019 @ 6:01 at 6:01
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      ^ why are we NOT using

  • Apr 13, 2019 @ 10:54 at 10:54
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    In the beginning if you fail then…nevermind…

Comments are closed.