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UAE-made launch Rashid Wanderer Will help pave the way for the long-term development of the UAE lunar exploration program.
This is the first one moon spaceship Built by an Arab country, it is expected to launch from a spaceport in Florida next month.
With momentum towards this landmark mission, National Check out what we know about the Rashid Rover.
Who built the Rashid rover?
The four-wheeled rover, weighing just 10 kilograms, was built by engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
A core team of 11 supports the development of the mission and has been working on it since 2017.
They hope the rover will be able to land on the near side of the moon, the side facing Earth, to study an unexplored region.
The rover is named in honor of the father of the late Sheikh Rashid Al Said, the late ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the vice-president and ruler of Dubai.
When will it be launched?
A final date for takeoff has not been announced, but National The launch window was revealed last month.
That could be anytime between November 9 and 15, from Spaceport 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
How will it travel to the moon and land on the surface?
The rover is aboard the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by the Japanese company ispace. This is also ispace’s first moon landing mission.
A lander is a spacecraft that can land on the surface of a planet. It is equipped with propulsion and navigation systems that allow it to power in space and land safely with cargo.
Rashid was integrated into the lander last month, when the package is expected to be delivered to the launch site.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which belongs to Tesla founder Elon Musk’s company, will carry out the space mission.
From there, the lander will take a three-month trip to the moon and safely store the rover inside.
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The goal is to land at the Atlas crater at Mare Frigoris, the northernmost point on the moon’s near side.
If it manages to soft land on the lunar surface, the lander will place Rashid on the slope. They will then communicate wirelessly, just as Mission Control monitors the spacecraft and its payload during its journey to the moon and surface.
What will Rashid do there?
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre said it was a scientific mission.
The rover will study the properties of lunar soil, lunar petrology and geology, dust movement, and study surface plasma conditions and the moon’s photoelectron sheath.
Lunar dust, or regolith, is one of the main challenges astronauts face on the moon.
It was during the Apollo missions that scientists learned how lunar dust clings to spacesuits, causing erosion and operational problems.
As the space agency is determined to put humans on the moon again, sharp lunar dust grains remain a concern because they can cling to almost everything.
The Rashid rover aims to address this question with an experiment that will test the effect of different materials on dust.
Called a material bonding experiment, various test samples will be attached to the rover’s wheels.
Additionally, Mission Control in Dubai is also expected to receive thousands of images from the rover.
The French space agency provided two cameras for the rover. One placed on top to get a panoramic image of the robot’s surroundings. The other is a rear-facing camera that captures images as the lander throws regolith behind it.
How long will it “live”?
The mission will last for one lunar day, or 14 Earth days.
The team also hopes that the rover will survive the lunar night (again, 14 days) when temperatures plummet to -183°C.
Will the UAE have more moon missions?
Yes, the UAE has announced a multi-mission long-term lunar exploration plan.
It is already working on Rashid 2. China will help launch a rover on the Chang’e 7 lunar south pole mission in 2026.
Updated: October 8, 2022 11:36 AM
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