Israel sending its first spacecraft to the moon

Thursday, February 21, 2019
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WPVI) -- The first privately-funded spacecraft to try to land on the moon is currently en route.

It blasted off aboard a SpaceX rocket at 8:45 Thursday night.
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A nonprofit Israeli group is behind the launch. They named the lander Beresheet, like the Book of Genesis.



It's not expected to get there until April 11.
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If successful, Israel would make history as the fourth country to land on the moon.

As for the SpaceX rocket, part of it returned to Earth and landed dead center on a drone ship at sea.



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