"The goal is to show that Israel can do it"

Arutz Sheva He spoke with SpaceIL President Morris Kahn at the 2019 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC.

SpaceIL has designed and built the Beresheet spacecraft that is heading towards the Moon.

"On the 4th of next month, we should be able to make an adjustment and get into the gravitational pull of the moon where we will start bypassing the moon," Kahn said, taking stock of Beresheet's trip.

When asked what attracted him to this project, he replied, "First of all, I thought it was a real challenge. It was exciting. But what has really attracted me, is the impact we would have on our success. And the impact would be to actually put Israel on the map in the moon. Put Israel on the map in space. And I think we are reaching that goal. "

"We started out as part of a competition, but in reality, I think we're showing that a small country can innovate and achieve the same goal with a much smaller budget and a much smaller staff, Kahn continued.

"The excitement in Israel is phenomenal and that's what we hope to achieve. We want to encourage young people, to encourage them to talk about math, science, technology – to excite them about the space. We have just celebrated Purim. If you look at the children at Purim, 90% of them disguise themselves as astronauts and those who were not astronauts built very innovative spaceships as part of their costumes. It was amazing. "

"The goal is to land on the moon, to show that Israel can do it, to plant the flag and to make us proud," said Kahn.