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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates will launch its first rover in November, mission managers said Monday.
Hamad Al Marzooqi told the state-linked newspaper The Nation that the “Rashid” rover, named after the ruling family of Dubai, will depart from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida sometime between November 9 and 15. emission. The exact date will be announced next month, he said.
The rover will launch on a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket and land on the moon sometime in March by a Japanese ispace lander.
“We have completed testing of the rover and we are satisfied with the results,” Al Marzooqi was quoted as saying. “The rover has been integrated with the lander and is ready to launch.”
The lunar mission is part of the UAE’s broader strategy to become a major player in space exploration. If the mission to the moon is successful, the UAE and Japan will join the United States, Russia and China in placing spacecraft on the lunar surface.
There is already an Emirati satellite orbiting Mars to study the red planet’s atmosphere. The UAE partnered with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch the probe, which will enter Mars orbit in February 2021.
The Rashid rover is expected to study the lunar surface, its fluidity and how different surfaces interact with lunar particles. The 10-kilogram (22-pound) rover will carry two high-resolution cameras, a microscopy camera, a thermal imaging camera, a detector and other equipment.
The UAE plans to develop the most advanced commercial satellite in the Middle East to generate high-resolution satellite imagery. It also set an ambitious goal of establishing a human colony on Mars by 2117.
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