Israel's Beresheet (Genesis) spacecraft may have crash-landed on the moon on April 11, but it made Israel the seventh country to achieve a lunar orbit after an amazing journey of some 4 million miles. It attracted massive media attention and captured the imagination of people around the globe – especially children. While millions of viewers watched with bated breath as Beresheet transmitted its last two pictures to the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) control room in Yehud before losing its engine and contact, President Reuven Rivlin hosted a watch party at his residence in Jerusalem with some 80 youngsters passionate about science and space. “We are full of admiration for the wonderful people who brought the spacecraft to the moon. True, not as we had hoped, but we will succeed in the end,” Rivlin told them. Beresheet, the product of eight years of teamwork between the non-profit organization, SpaceIL, and IAI, was a $100-million venture primarily funded by SpaceIL President Morris Kahn and other philanthropists. Its original mission was to win the SpaceX competition in 2018, but when its competitors dropped out of the race, the Israeli team decided to go it alone. The South African-born Kahn, a billionaire who founded the communications software giant, Amdocs, put on a brave face after learning that Beresheet had crashed. “In the light of all the support from all over the world, I've decided that we are going to establish Beresheet 2.0,” he said. “We're going to build a new spacecraft and we're going to put it on the moon and complete the mission.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attending the Yehud event with his wife, Sara, and still elated from the Likud's victory in the Israeli elections, comforted Kahn. “If at first you don't succeed, you try again,” he said. “Within three years, an Israeli spacecraft will land safely on the moon.” For its part, IAI said it is “proud to be part of this amazing journey with SpaceIL that took us to the moon. The Beresheet effect will continue to lead the children of Israel to dream about Beresheet 2!” Launched from Cape Canaveral on February 21, Beresheet carried a NASA laser retroreflector to provide insight into the moon's iron core and a time capsule that included a lunar library – the Bible, 30,000 books and Israel's Declaration of Independence in microscopic text – as well as a picture of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy, and the Moon Landscape drawing by Petr Ginz, who perished in Auschwitz at the age of 16. Despite its landing failure, the Google Lunar X Prize announced it would still give its million-dollar Moonshot Award to the SpaceIL team of engineers – Kfir Damari, Yonatan Winetraub and Yariv Bash. IAI Chairman Harel Locker told the children watching the Beresheet broadcast: “The sky's no longer the limit. You must believe that the most important thing is to dream, to aim high and to dare. Everything's possible.” An uplifting message came from Kahn's friend, Buzz Aldrin, the second man after Neil Armstrong to walk on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission on July 21, 1969. Both men are 89 years old. “Condolences to the Beresheet lander for what almost was,” Aldrin tweeted. “Never lose hope – your hard work, teamwork and innovation are inspiring to all!” But the most meaningful gesture came from Culture Minister Miri Regev, who announced that Kahn and Damari – “dreamers who deserve to fulfill their vision” – would light a torch together at Israel's 71st Independence Day ceremony.
