An Israeli spacecraft has sent its first selfie back to earth as it makes its way to the moon.
The Beresheet spacecraft blasted off aboard a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida last month.
The craft is expected to take seven weeks to complete the 384,000km to the moon.
Over that time, the craft will boost itself into three successively longer loops around the Earth until it reaches the moon’s path.
It will then loop around the moon twice before landing in the Mare Serenitatis, or Sea of Serenity, on April 11th.
If is successfully lands, Israel will become the fourth lunar nation – China became the third, after the US and the Soviet Union, in 2013.
It will also mark the first moon landing from a privately funded company.
The spacecraft beamed the image back to mission control in Yehud, Israel from 37,600km away.
At a distance of 37,600 km from Earth, #Beresheet’s selfie camera took a picture of #Earth. Australia can be clearly seen! This photo was taken during a slow spin of the #spacecraft & for the first time see the #Israeli flag 🇮🇱 & text, "am yisrael chai." #IsraelToTheMoon #SpaceIL pic.twitter.com/ELFZsaShXg
— Israel To The Moon (@TeamSpaceIL) March 5, 2019
Simply landing the craft on the moon would be a huge achievement for SpaceIL, the company behind the mission.
However, the craft is also carrying an instrument for measuring the lunar magnetic field, in the hope of gaining an insight into the moons formation.
It is also carrying a time capsule loaded with digital files including a 30 million page archive of human history and civilisation, a Bible, an Israeli flag and the account of a holocaust survivor.
"In the beginning I was just an idea, a dream, a fantasy..." - #SpaceIL @ILAerospaceIAI #IsraelToTheMoon pic.twitter.com/iHnEtzKAEd
— Israel To The Moon (@TeamSpaceIL) February 25, 2019
SpaceIl said it is actively working to create an “Apollo Effect” in Israel with the aim of inspiring the next generation to study STEM subjects and reach for the stars.
