Kfir Damari, SpaceIL’s cofounder talks to ISRAEL21c about the Beresheet 1 mission, plans for Beresheet 2
To the Moon with the UAE
In October, the United Arab Emirates signed a cooperation agreement with Israel to work on space exploration and Beresheet 2. The goal is to launch sometime in 2024 or 2025.
The new spacecraft, to be built on a budget of $100 million, will drop one lander on one side of the Moon and the other lander on the dark side of the Moon, where only China has ventured. Then, after dropping off the landers, the original ship will orbit the Moon for two years.
During its orbit, Damari said, it will serve as the first educational platform to engage children around the world. Beresheet 1 had engaged two million children, half of them within Israel, in the space project. He hopes that the new craft will inspire adults and children in the United Arab Emirates, Europe and Africa to create bonds with Israeli peers.
“For Israel to lead the mission and for children to do their first steps of engineering and space exploration through Israel will be amazing for Israel’s image,” he continued. “I believe that when children from other countries will work with Israeli children on projects it will also shape their perspective.”
Damari added that the Beresheet2 project is not only aimed at children interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
“Can you imagine the kinds of art projects that can be done with a platform orbiting the Moon?” Damari mused. He added that the Israeli Ministry of Education is already planning curriculum ideas for students from kindergarten through high school.
“For me, this is making something impactful for Israel,” he said. “It also shows how all of us can reach for something impossible and make it possible.”
The name for the spacecraft was chosen through a vote on Facebook. “I don’t know who suggested it but the name connects us to the past and to the future. It was Israel’s first spacecraft but not the last,” Damari said.
SpaceIL wanted people to feel connected with the mission, so Beresheet was the first spacecraft to take a selfie. It showed the Moon against the logo of Beresheet, “Small nation, big dreams.”