First privately funded moon lander crash-lands

At SpaceIL’s facility near Tel Aviv, a thermal vacuum chamber creates the same intense heat the lander will encounter during the moon’s daytime, which is equivalent to continuous sunlight for 14 Earth days.

A partial model of SpaceIL's Beresheet lander rests in an echo-free chamber that absorbs electromagnetic waves, enabling engineers to test how its antennas will transmit and receive data while on the moon.

A girl wears her official spacesuit costume at SpaceIL team headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The Beresheet lander could not transmit high-definition photos and video back to Earth—a key mission goal—without its transponder, a custom-built device made by U.S.-based firm Space Micro.

Wearing her official spacesuit costume at team headquarters in Tel Aviv, Yuval Klinger is enthusiastically tracking the Israeli organization’s progress—and contemplating whether spacefaring may be a part of her future career plans. She is far from alone in her interest. “We wanted all kids in Israel to be heads-up about this,” says SpaceIL’s former CEO, Eran Privman, in a prior interview with National Geographic magazine. “We want these kids to be able to explain to their parents what’s going on.”