Israel flying to moon after SpaceX launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

An Israeli spacecraft blasted off to the moon in an attempt to make the country’s first lunar landing after a launch Thursday night by SpaceX.

A communications satellite for Indonesia was the main cargo aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, which illuminated the sky as it took flight. But Israel’s privately funded lunar lander – a first not just for Israel but commercial space – generated the buzz.

Israel seeks to become only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, after Russia, the U.S. and China. The spacecraft – called Beresheet, Hebrew for Genesis or “In The Beginning” – will take nearly two months to reach the moon.

The moon, nearly full and glowing brightly, beckoned as it rose in the eastern sky after liftoff.

Associated Press