SpaceIL chairman, co-founder to light Independence Day torch

SpaceIL chairman Morris Kahn and its co-founder Kfir Damari will light a torch at Israel’s 71st Independence Day ceremony on May 8, Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev announces.

“SpaceIL has been working for eight years to promote scientific and technological education in Israel and to encourage Israeli innovation,” she says in a statement from the ministry. This year’s Independence Day theme is “The Israeli Spirit.”

Morris Kahn speaks on Channel 12, April 13, 2019 (screenshot)

Following the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet’s failure to land safely on the moon this week, Kahn on Saturday announced he was launching project Beresheet 2, effective immediately, adding: “We started something and we need to finish it. We’ll put our flag on the moon.”

The small spacecraft, the world’s first privately funded moon lander, crashed into the lunar surface Thursday night during an attempted landing, apparently due to a technical glitch that caused its main engine to stop mid-landing.

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