In case you missed it, the Beresheet (meaning “genesis” in Hebrew) lunar lander was launched on Thursday, February 21, on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Beresheet is the product of Israel’s non-profit SpaceIL, which seeks to inspire the next generation of explorers and STEM professionals in Israel and beyond by successfully landing a spacecraft on the Moon. The spacecraft will not be on a direct path to the Moon, but rather it will take an approximately two month journey, orbiting the Earth three times and the Moon twice before landing on the lunar surface in early April. The landing site within Mare Serenitatis was selected due to the presence of puzzling magnetic anomalies. Upon landing, the science team, in conjunction with UCLA and the Weizmann Institute of Science, will conduct a short experiment to measure the Moon’s magnetic field. If successful, this mission will be the first privately funded spacecraft to reach the lunar surface. READ MORE