The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on the verge of making history as it awaits the impact of its Rashid rover on the Moon’s surface aboard Hakuto-R, the world’s first private mission to the Moon.
Tuesday, the private Japanese mission will endeavor to land on the moon in an attempt to make history. The Hakutor-R mission entered lunar orbit approximately one month ago and has been orbiting the Moon ever closer ever since. Now, the spacecraft will commence a 100-kilometer descent to the Moon’s surface.
In December 2022, the Rashid rover was launched to the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket. It took nearly five months for the Japanese spacecraft and its experiments to travel 1.6 million kilometers through space to reach the moon.
What Is the RASHID ROVER of UAE?
The Hakuto-R mission carries the UAE’s first lunar mission to attempt a surface touchdown. The Rashid rover, created by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai, is carefully packed inside the Hakuto-R lander and is on a low-energy trajectory toward the Moon.
Scientists from the United Arab Emirates have designed the Rashid rover to demonstrate lunar surface transportation and mobility. The four-wheeled rover with differential gear can travel at a maximum speed of 10 centimeters per second and scale an obstacle 10 centimeters in height with a 20-degree inclination.
WHAT ACTIVITIES WILL RASHID ENGAGE IN ON THE MOON?
Two cameras are installed on the 10-kilogram rover to provide a panoramic view of its environs. The rear-mounted CASPEX camera will capture high-resolution images of the lunar surface. The cameras will be used to examine the Moon’s wheel-soil interaction in great detail.
Rashid’s microscopic imager will acquire the highest resolution image of the lunar surface to investigate the regolith’s uppermost layer.
In addition to studying the plasma surrounding the Moon, the rover will investigate how charged particles interact with the lunar surface. Scientists will also investigate how the surface materials of the rover interact with solar radiation.
Rashid, named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the founder of modern Dubai, is part of the United Arab Emirates’ broader strategy to become a significant player in space exploration. If the moon mission is successful, the UAE and Japan will join the United States, Russia, and China as the only nations to have successfully landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface.
The United Arab Emirates intends to develop the most advanced commercial satellite in the Middle East to generate high-resolution satellite imagery. In addition, it has set the ambitious objective of establishing a human colony on Mars by 2117. The UAE’s Mars mission has already been deemed a success, as the Hope spacecraft continues to gather crucial data around the planet.