Will Make A Second Attempt To Land A Private Spacecraft On The Moon

After SpaceIL's attempt to land a private spacecraft on the Moon on Thursday ended with the loss of the lander, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "If at first you don't succeed, you try again."

The company took that to heart, and on Sunday began work on a second Beresheet spacecraft to "complete the mission."

SpaceIL founder Morris Kahn announced the effort in a video posted to Twitter. "In the light of all the support I have gotten from all over the world, and the wonderful messages of support and encouragement and excitement, I have decided that we are going to ... build a new spacecraft, we're going to put it on the moon, and we're going to complete the mission."

The descent motor of the Beresheet cut off unexpectedly during the landing attempt, and after it was confirmed that the engine has restarted, all further contact with the Beresheet lander was lost.

Engadget reports that it is not known if SpaceIL will build the same spacecraft for the second attempt, or if it will undertake a significant redesign of the Beresheet.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report