Israel's first moon mission lifts off after SpaceX launch

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/israels-first-moon-mission-lifts-off-after-spacex-launch/a-47595186

Israel's first moon mission lifts off after SpaceX launch

Behold "Beresheet" — the lander that took off from Cape Canaveral on board a Space-X Falcon 9 rocket on Friday. Its name refers to the first week of the Torah and translates to "The Beginning."

The naming is apt as the project represents a new beginning – in two respects. It will not only be Israel's first moon landing, but it is also the first entirely privately initiated and financed moon mission ever.

A communications satellite for Indonesia was the main cargo as Israel seeks to become only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon.
(snip)

The idea behind Beresheet was first sparked by a competition: the Google Lunar X Prize, launched in 2007. Google's call out was directed exclusively at private competitors to design a landing robot for the moon by the end of March 2018. It should be able to travel 500 meters (1640 feet) on the moon and send high-resolution video images back to Earth.

Although none of the 34 teams won the prize (because Google didn't trust anyone to build the robot in the given time) the Israeli applicant, SpaceIL, was not deterred. Now, years later, their spacecraft is ready for launch.
(snip)

[cstanleytech]

1. To be honest I am not impressed by this or other such stories because what the focus should be on

is developing tech to lift a large amount of mass from the earth to orbit in a timely and reasonably priced manner which rockets do not provide for.
After that we then need the tech to travel to other bodies like the moon or mars in a few hours rather than days or months.