Going to the moon has been a lifelong dream, and now, eight weeks of white nights - by Yariv Bash

The Israeli flag will be the fourth to be raised on the moon. Being so small, this fills us with pride and humility that is still difficult to process. This achievement is already bigger than any one of us, and yet we all have a part in it, and we should see the mission's success as a first step to a better future for us all.

Yariv Bash..
Israel Hayom..
21 February '19..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/eight-weeks-of-white-nights/

We have a long night ahead of us. In fact, for the past two months, every night has been long, gazing at the moon, preparing our baby for its journey there.

Although it seems we've already achieved our goal, we are only just beginning the journey to landing on the moon. These will be eight weeks of bated breath, suspense ahead of every new stage of progress, and crossed fingers that our spacecraft fares well. We will wake up every morning and hope the spacecraft is communicating and functioning properly as it travels to the moon – similar to waking up and listening to the breaths of a newborn, just to be sure that everything is okay.

Going to the moon has been a lifelong dream, and although time has flown, the months turning to years, we can say after 70 years that we're in the home stretch and can almost touch the finish line.

When we began, with typical Israeli chutzpah, we didn't fully appreciate the complexity of the mission - the need to delve into the tiniest of details so we could build a spacecraft capable of withstanding the arduous flight; thoroughly inspect and test every last component to create a dependable communications system; and ensure we had enough fuel to perform the necessary landing maneuvers.




When we hatched the idea, we didn't think it would become the baby of an entire nation, a source of immense pride and inspiration. It's hard to believe that a group as small as we were, with our private dream, could rally the support of an entire country for this dream in the form of donations, volunteering or any other help. Even NASA lent a hand. Everyone who pitched in is part of this dream and its realization.

The scope of the project goes well beyond the $100 million invested in designing and building the spacecraft, plotting its course and running the tests. It's impossible to quantify the amount of energy poured into "Genesis."

Had it not been for the general show of support and everyone's willingness to help, we wouldn't be here now at the moment of truth, ready to etch another chapter into the annals of our young country's history. The Israeli flag will be the fourth to be raised on the moon. Being so small, this fills us with pride and humility that is still difficult to process. This achievement is already bigger than any one of us, and yet we all have a part in it, and we should see the mission's success as a first step to a better future for us all.

Yariv Bash is a co-founder of the SpaceIL project.

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