CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Israel aims to land on the moon after hitching a ride with SpaceX.
The Falcon rocket is scheduled to blast off Thursday night from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A communications satellite for Indonesia is the main cargo. But Israel's privately funded lunar lander — a first not just for Israel but commercial space — is generating the buzz.
Israel seeks to become only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, after Russia, the U.S. and China. The spacecraft — called Beresheet, Hebrew for Genesis or "In The Beginning" — will take nearly two months to reach the moon.
It will circle Earth in ever bigger loops until it's captured by lunar gravity and goes into orbit around the moon. Touchdown would be April 11 at the Sea of Serenity.
