President of SpaceIL Morris Kahn unveiled a replica of the failed Beresheet spacecraft at LEGO Space Park in Tel Aviv.
By United With Israel Staff
A life-size replica of the failed SpaceIL Beresheet lunar lander was unveiled on Thursday at LEGO space park at the Tel Aviv Convention Center, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The structure, created by artist Yuval Dvorin, is a replication of the actual lunar lander that crashed due to a technical malfunction upon nearing the moon on April 11. It is made up of over 100,000 LEGO pieces and weights nearly 400 pounds.
President of SpaceIL Morris Kahn was honored with unveiling of the LEGO Beresheet at the opening event.
Minister of Science, Technology and Space Ofir Akunis and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked attended the event.
Over five million LEGO blocks were used to create the full LEGO space exhibition.
Beresheet was the smallest spacecraft launched for a lunar mission by weight and size. It measured only 1.5 meters by 2 meters and weighed 600 kg (around 1,300 lbs.), most of which was fuel. It was about the size of a compact car and looked like a futuristic washing machine.
LEGO Space Park is being held in collaboration with LEGO International and SpaceIL. LEGO chose the space theme to encourage more children to dare to dream and venture into space themselves one day, reported the Post.
The exhibition, running from July 26 to August 31, is Israel’s largest summer attraction.