Watch – Israeli spacecraft Beresheet set for launch to the moon #IsraelToTheMoon

?? SpaceIL, in conjunction with Israel Aerospace Industries, announced that the first Israeli spacecraft to land on the moon, “Beresheet”, will be launched this Friday morning.

After a seven-week journey, the spacecraft is expected to land on the moon during April.

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SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries told reporters that the landing craft, dubbed Beresheet, or Genesis, will ship from Florida, where, propelled by a SpaceX Falcon rocket launch, it will commence its months-long voyage to the moon.

The launch is due late Thursday in US, early Friday in Israel. It had been originally slated for last December.

The small craft, roughly the size of a washing machine, will have to make several orbits before landing.

Its first task, however, will be to plant an Israeli flag ?? on the moon ?

Israel’s space program chief Avi Blasberger says he hopes it will create a “Beresheet effect” in Israel, akin to the Apollo effect, to promote science for a new generation of Israelis.