The planned landing of an Israeli spacecraft on the moon has failed. "We did not land successfully," said a representative of the Israeli nonprofit organization SpaceIL. However, Israel is the seventh country in the world that has managed to enter the orbit of the Moon.
According to SpaceIL, the most important engine of the spacecraft "Bereschit" had failed in the landing maneuver. The communication with the probe was lost.
Israel had hoped to land on the moon as the fourth nation after the great powers Russia, USA and China. It was the first privately funded mission of its kind.
"We are boundlessly proud today," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the control center in Jahud near Tel Aviv shortly before the failed landing. "It is still an important step for humanity and a huge step for Israel." Netanyahu spoke of a "fantastic achievement."
DPA
Model of Israeli spacecraft Bereshit
The probe had been circling Earth's Moon for nearly a week, mastering several important maneuvers. The landing in the area of the "sea of serenity", a moon sea, then drove them from the optimal point.
The spacecraft began its seven-week journey to the Moon on February 22 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Florida. It was placed into Earth orbit by Tesla chief Elon Musk's Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX spacecraft.
The probe, weighing just under 600 kilos and 1.50 meters in height, was to place an Israeli flag on the moon and examine the magnetic field.