Written by David Rosenberg
They aren’t planning to put the first Israeli on the Moon. But they do want to plant the country’s flag there, send a robot on a 500-meter or so stroll past some craters and send pictures back home. Along the way, they want to inspire the next generation of Israelis to pursue science and technology and show the world Israel’s tech abilities.
And they want to do this employing innovative and often untried technology all in the space of two years and on a budget that NASA would regard as petty cash.
Space IL, the non-profit organization formed by three young Israelis, is undertaking its shoestring dream as part of the Lunar X competition by Google to successfully launch, fly and land a robotic spacecraft on the lunar surface. The team faces is competing for a $20 million first-prize award, but Space IL is just as concerned about the process as the prize.
“It’s a vision,” Kfir Damari, one of the three twenty-something’s who founded Space IL a year ago, told
Categories: Israel, Middle East, Space Exploration, Technology