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Reason Revealed Behind the Crash of Israeli Spacecraft

SpaceIL says it will continue to analyze the fatal glitch and publish a formal assessment in the coming weeks

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People watch the live broadcast of the SpaceIL spacecraft as it lost contact with Earth in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, April 11, 2019. VOA

The Israeli start-up behind last week’s failed lunar landing says human error may have caused the spacecraft to crash into the moon.

SpaceIL, the non-profit that undertook the botched lunar mission, said Thursday that its engineers collectively decided to restart the inertial measurement unit, a critical part of the spacecraft’s guidance system, following its malfunction in the lander’s final descent.

israeli spacecraft
An image of the lunar surface taken by Israeli spacecraft Beresheet, obtained by Reuters from Space IL on April 11, 2019. VOA

The team says the command triggered a “chain of events” that culminated in the spacecraft slamming into the moon, otherwise “things may have been OK, but we’re still not sure.”

ALSO READ: Israeli NonProfit Vows to Create Second Moon Mission After the Failure of 1st Lunar Landing

SpaceIL says it will continue to analyze the fatal glitch and publish a formal assessment in the coming weeks.

Had the mission succeeded, it would have marked a first for Israel and for privately-funded lunar voyages. (VOA)

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Israeli NonProfit Vows to Create Second Moon Mission After the Failure of 1st Lunar Landing

The crash ended an ambitious eight-year effort to make Israel the fourth nation to land on the moon

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NewsGram Desk
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israeli, moon misison
Team members of the Israel spacecraft, Beresheet, are seen in the control room in Yahud, Israel, April 11, 2019. VOA

The Israeli start-up behind last week’s failed lunar landing has vowed to create a second mission to steer a privately funded spacecraft onto the moon.

Morris Kahn, Israeli billionaire and chairman of SpaceIL, the nonprofit that undertook the botched lunar mission, says he’s already formed a task force of engineers and donors that will build another spacecraft. He called the new mission a lesson in persistence for “the younger generation.”

moon mission, israeli
People watch a screen showing explanations of the planned landing of Israeli spacecraft Beresheet at the Planetaya Planetarium in the Israeli city of Netanya, April 11, 2019, before it crashed during the landing. VOA

SpaceIL confirmed Monday that the crew will convene in the coming weeks to figure out how to fix the technical glitches that caused the first mission to crash, while still keeping the venture relatively fast and cheap.

ALSO READ: Israeli Team Evaluates the Reason Behind the Crash of Spacecraft

The crash ended an ambitious eight-year effort to make Israel the fourth nation to land on the moon. (VOA)

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