Israeli spacecraft Beresheet has crashed on the lunar surface just a few moments before making a successful touchdown, due to unexpected engine failure.
It should be noted that the Beresheet lunar mission was widely considered as an ambitious attempt to make history, as it was the world's first privately funded lunar landing.
Reports stated that a few seconds before the mission failure, the Beresheet spacecraft had snapped a selfie as it approached the lunar surface. During its final descent, the spacecraft lost communication with ground control and soon the mission was declared a failure.
Opher Doron of Israel Aerospace Industries confirmed this news and clarified that the spacecraft definitely crashed on the surface of moon. He also revealed that the spacecraft was in pieces scattered at the landing site.
If the landing was successful, then Israel would have emerged as a world space power to make a successful soft landing on the lunar surface. As of now, only three countries, US, Soviet Union and China have successfully landed on the lunar surface.
However, the Beresheet mission is considered a milestone achievement in Israel's space journey, as it helped the country to emerge as one of the seven nations to orbit the natural satellite of earth.
Israel government also appreciated the technicians and experts who were a part of the Beresheet mission via writing a post on Twitter.
"Beresheet came the closest Israel ever has to land on the moon, but unfortunately the landing was not completed successfully. We applaud @TeamSpaceIL for a tremendous scientific achievement, they made history by making Israel one of 7 nations who had ever orbited the moon," tweeted Israeli government.
The Beresheet mission is a joint venture of SpaceIL, an Israeli non-profit organization and the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
