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(Newser)
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An Israeli non-profit organization has announced that it will launch what it hopes to be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon this week, reports the AP. SpaceIL and Israeli public company Israel Aerospace Industries told reporters on Monday that the landing craft, named Beresheet, or Genesis, would be shipped from Florida, where, propelled by a SpaceX Falcon rocket, it would begin its long journey of several months. . The small boat, which is about the size of a washing machine, will have to make several orbits before landing.
The LG was born from the determination of Israeli aerospace engineer Yonatan Winetraub to win Google's Lunar XPrize award, notes NBC News. When he came across computer engineer Yariv Bash and entrepreneur Kfir Damari, "we all sat in a bar in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, and as increased alcohol, we became more and more determined to do this "Avi Blasberger, head of the Israeli space program, hopes to create a" Beresheet effect "in Israel, similar to the Apollo effect, to promote science for a new generation of Israelis. The launch is scheduled for Thursday in the United States Friday in Israel, it was planned for last December.
(Read more about lunar exploration stories.)
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