An Israeli spacecraft lost contact with Earth and crashed just moments before it was to land on the moon, failing in an ambitious attempt to make history as the first privately funded mission.
The Beresheet lost communication with ground control as it was making its final descent late on Thursday (local time). Moments later, the mission was declared a failure.
"We definitely crashed on the surface of the moon," said Opher Doron, general manager of the space division of Israel Aerospace Industries. He said the spacecraft was in pieces scattered at the planned landing site.
Doron said the spacecraft's engine turned off shortly before landing, and scientists were still trying to figure out the cause of the failure.
"One of the inertial measurement units failed. And that caused an unfortunate chain of events we're not sure about. The engine was stopped and the spacecraft crashed. That's all we know."
Doron nonetheless called the mission an "amazing success," for reaching the moon and coming so close to landing successfully.
"It is by far the smallest, cheapest spacecraft ever to get to the moon," he said.
The mishap occurred in front of a packed audience that included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was broadcast live on national television.
It had been hoped that the small robotic spacecraft, built by the non-profit SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, would match a feat that has been achieved only by the national space agencies of three countries: United States, Russia and China.
"We will try again," Netanyahu said. "We reached the moon, but we want to land more comfortably, and that is for the next time."
About 20 minutes before the scheduled landing, engine firings slowed Beresheet's descent. Engineers watched in silence as it glided toward a free-fall.
But then the screens showed the engine misfiring, and the velocity surging as it headed toward the lunar surface. Radio signals from the spacecraft, the size of a washing machine, abruptly cut off, and nervous chatter erupted in the control room.
Standing before darkened computer screens, commanders declared the mission a failure. The craft crashed near the historic Apollo landing sites.
The Google Lunar X Prize Competition, which offered $US20 million for the first privately funded venture to make it to the moon, is what first drove SpaceIL to get Beresheet off the ground.
The failure was a disappointing ending to a 6.5 million kilometre lunar voyage, almost unprecedented in length, that was designed to conserve fuel and reduce price.
The spacecraft hitched a ride on a SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from Florida in February this year.
For the past two months, Beresheet, which means "Genesis" or "In the Beginning," travelled around the Earth several times before entering lunar orbit.
Beresheet carried a small laser retroreflector from NASA intended to measure magnetic fields and provide insight on the moon's iron core.
It also had a time capsule that included a Bible, Israeli cultural symbols and a picture of famed Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the crash of the US space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
NASA broadcast the landing attempt live on its dedicated TV channels as well as online.
"While NASA regrets the end of the SpaceIL mission without a successful lunar landing of the Beresheet lander, we congratulate SpaceIL, the Israel Aerospace Industries and the state of Israel on the incredible accomplishment of sending the first privately funded mission into lunar orbit," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.
"I have no doubt that Israel and SpaceIL will continue to explore and I look forward to celebrating their future achievements."
