Israel and UAE flags on Moon? Nations said poised to pen space cooperation deal
Report says allies will cooperate on Israel’s Beresheet 2 mission, with students from two nations to build satellite that will also determine precise time of new moon for calendar
By TOI STAFFToday, 5:25 am
The last shot Beresheet sent of landing before crashing onto the moon’s surface, April 11, 2019. (YouTube screenshot)
Israel and the United Arab Emirates are set to sign an agreement on space collaboration that could see the two nations’ flags jointly planted on the moon by 2024, the Ynet news site reported Tuesday.
The agreement, expected to be signed Wednesday, would be the latest step forward in the burgeoning relationship between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi since the signing of the Abraham Accords normalizing ties between the two countries.
According to the report, the agreement will cover several space projects including collaboration on Israel’s “Beresheet 2” mission to the moon, currently set to launch in 2024.
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The spacecraft will carry a satellite jointly designed by students from both countries that would help determine the precise time of the new moon.
Both the Jewish and Muslim calendars are governed by the lunar calendars, with the dates of major holidays being determined by the moon’s cycle.
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Israel has so far raised $70 million from investors for the mission to the lunar surface, its second, which is expected to cost some $100 million. The first mission crashed into the moon’s surface in April 2019 during its attempt to land, dashing the hopes of hundreds of engineers who had worked on the project for years.
A conceptual schematic for the Beresheet 2 lander, released to the media on December 9, 2020. (Haim Zach/GPO)
The “Beresheet 2” mission plans to break several records in global space history, including a double landing on the moon in a single mission by two of the smallest landing craft ever launched into space, each weighing 120 kilograms (265 pounds), half of which is fuel.
As part of the mission, a mothership will be launched into space, from which the two landers will detach. One of them aims to land on the far side of the moon, a feat only China has accomplished to date, project organizers have said. The second craft is scheduled to land at an as-yet-undetermined site on the moon.
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