This 'Sparrow' lunar lander may soon make Israel the 4th country ever to land the moon
SpaceIL
- SpaceIL, a nonprofit backed by a billionaire in Israel, has built a 1,300-lb lunar lander called "Sparrow."
- The team tried to win $20 million from the Google Lunar XPRIZE, but the competition ended without a winner.
- Regardless, SpaceIL says a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch its robot in December for a moon-landing attempt in February, 2019.
- SpaceIL's mission could make Israel the fourth country to achieve a soft moon landing.
The Google Lunar XPRIZE launched in 2007 with tens of millions of dollars in prize money and the hope of spurring a private company to land a robot on the moon.
The competition ended in March 2018 without a winner, but its ultimate goal may be achieved within six months.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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