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Israeli engineers on Monday added the final element to a spacecraft destined for the moon - a digital time capsule - and said they aimed to land the craft early next year, somewhere between the landing sites of Apollo 15 and 17.
It will be the first mission of its kind since 2013 and, if it is successful, Israel will be the fourth country to carry out a controlled 'soft' landing of an unmanned vessel on the moon.
Since 1966, the United States and the former Soviet Union have put around a dozen of them on the moon and China last did so in 2013.
So thats USA, Russia, China, and... Israel(??) who want to stake a claim to the surface, yet Europe, India and Japan have not been bothered to land anything there.
I am just watching the unfolding sides taking their position and I think it odd that Japan would rather go to do a sample-return from an asteroid, than land something on the Moon. Although, I can see how extremely useful a presence on the Moon would be to any country in the future - say 50-100 years from now.
India has sent a successful spacecraft to orbit Mars but has not yet landed anything on the Moon. That is scheduled for 2019 also with Chandrayaan-2. Wikipedia - ISRO India Space Agency
I am just watching the unfolding sides taking their position and I think it odd that Japan would rather go to do a sample-return from an asteroid, than land something on the Moon.
Not odd at all. We have hundreds of pounds of lunar samples, nothing from any asteroid at all. Much more exciting. The Moon is a backwater.
Now Israel wants to claim a piece of Moon in 2019.
Keep in mind it will be closed on Saturday's for the sabbath. But the plus will be that along with sunlight during the daytime, you'll also get moonlight during the day. It'll be great to have that extra light on really dark cloudy days. /s
Not odd at all. We have hundreds of pounds of lunar samples, nothing from any asteroid at all. Much more exciting. The Moon is a backwater.
In your opinion.
So we know all about the Moon do we? After 50 years+ we have done nothing to find out about the Moon. Apart from some satellite passes and building a map, we have ignored it and gone to Mars instead. You cannot really use 'excitement' as a valid scientific excuse for not doing a follow-up on the lunar landings. What is the 'official' excuse for ignoring the Moon surface for 50+ years then?
Scientists cannot currently agree on how old the Moon is and that is supposed to be some indication of how old the Earth is too. There is a wide variation in the dating of the rocks returned and some turned out to be fake. Pieces of history are not mislaid or mistaken for fossilised tree.
The thread title is a troll. Reading the cited article - it is a PRIVATE mission. SpaceIL is backed mainly by private donors.
Nowhere is any Israeli property claim of the surface made. Please check the facts before posting on Science Forum.
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Israel ratified it in 1977.
