Israel’s Lunar Lander Takes One Final, Mesmerizing Photo Before Crashing Down on The Moon

Isarael’s Beresheet spacecraft was the country’s very first moon lander and would have put the nation on the same list as the U.S, Russia and China, if only the vehicle would have successfully landed down on the lunar surface.

Unfortunately, SpaceL, the private, non-government group that was in charge of the operation, did not manage to fulfill the mission, which took place on Thursday – Beresheet’s engine suddenly cut out and the ground team lost all communication. The lander crashed down on the lunar surface shortly after.

Even so, moments before its untimely demise, Bersheet did turn its cameras towards the Moon and snapped one final, breathtaking image.

https://twitter.com/EladRatson/status/1116427960033136640

NASA applauded the mission regardless and tweeted that it congratulates “SpaceIL, Israel Aerospace Industries and the state of Israel on the accomplishment of sending the first privately funded mission into lunar orbit.”

While @NASA regrets the end of the @TeamSpaceIL mission without a successful lunar landing, we congratulate SpaceIL, Israel Aerospace Industries and the state of Israel on the accomplishment of sending the first privately funded mission into lunar orbit. https://t.co/XwHpN5M8Pu pic.twitter.com/cfMtP4srDr

— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 11, 2019

While the spacecraft did not finalize its mission, it did mark the first time a private spacecraft was able to position itself into lunar orbit and made Israel into the seventh nation who successfully did so.