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The UAE is getting the perfect Eid gift: its rover is preparing to land on the moon shortly after the four-day Islamic holiday. Tuesday, April 25, is the earliest scheduled landing date for the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander that will carry the Rashid rover to the lunar surface.
Japan-based ispace announced an estimated landing time of 4.40pm (UTC), which is around 8.40pm UAE time. As of April 12, 2023, the Mission 1 lander is orbiting the Moon in an elliptical orbit at an altitude between 100 km and 2,300 km.
“At approximately 3.40pm (7.40pm UAE time) on April 25, 2023, the lander is scheduled to begin its landing procedure from an orbit at an altitude of 100 kilometers. During the procedure, the lander will perform a brake burn, starting its The main propulsion system decelerates from orbit. Using a series of preset commands, the lander will … decelerate for a soft landing on the lunar surface. This process takes about an hour,” ispace said.
There are three alternative landing sites, and the landing date may change depending on which landing site is which. Alternative landing dates are April 26, May 1, and May 3, depending on operational status.
The lander entered lunar orbit last month. Once in orbit, the lander’s onboard cameras captured and sent back images of its destination, the Moon.
The image was taken on March 26 at an altitude of about 2,000 kilometers from the Moon. According to ispace, this image shows the eastern edge of the moon, along with Petavis, Vendelinus and Langrenus craters.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said: “To all our supporters and everyone who has been looking forward to the day we land on the moon, I am delighted to announce the scheduled landing date for Mission 1.” The achievement has been remarkable, and we have applied the lessons learned from this flight to our future missions. I want to once again express my heartfelt thanks to those who have worked so hard on this mission, including the engineers who have been working on the long-term operation since our launch last December. The stage is set. I look forward to witnessing this historic day, marking the beginning of a new era of commercial lunar missions. “
The UAE-built Rashid rover, named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, was the first lunar spacecraft built by an Arab country.
what happens after landing
Rashid Rover is now completing its third milestone: the arrival phase (entry, descent and landing). This will be the most drastic, as the lander will have to touch down on the lunar surface according to its systems’ calculations to stay on course at a specific spot on the moon.
Next comes the deploy, debug and launch phases. After the post-landing checks are complete, instrument commissioning and initial data collection will begin.
Next comes the nominal ground combat phase, which is the mission itself. Over 10 to 12 days, the Rashid rover will conduct continuous surface studies and image capture.
The final two phases after Lunar Day are hibernation and decommissioning, when the rovers prepare for Lunar Night. When assisted communication is activated, all captured information will be downloaded. The chances of the rover restarting are slim. However, if the rover is activated after lunar night, the mission will be extended.
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