DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates UAE is all set to launch its rover to the moon on Wednesday in the Arab world’s first lunar mission, as its final preparations have been completed.
In a big development for the Gulf countries, the Rashid rover will start its five-month journey from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, US on 30 November, Arab News reported.
Japan-based Espace inc. announced in a statement the integration of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander into the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had been completed.
The COE and founder of the company Takeshi Hakamada said that a design and development model for the mission has been utilized that is reliable and less expensive as it employed proven technologies and components from around the world.
People are invited to watch the UAE rover’s spectacular launch online
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) invited viewers from all over the world to witness the spectacular launch live at 12:39 pm UAE time (GMT+4).
The rover will land on the moon’s surface at Atlas Crater which is unexplored yet, in April next year, the center said.
If the mission succeeded, the United Arab Emirates would become the fourth country to reach the moon. The ten-kilogram rover aimed to study the properties of lunar soil, dust movement, mobility on the lunar surface, the petrography and geology of the moon, and study surface plasma conditions and the moon’s photoelectron sheath.
The rover will use its two high-resolution cameras to send images and data back to Earth. It is the latest lunar effort of the UAE to explore space. In February, it made history by landing its Hope probe to Mars, becoming the first Arab country that launched an unmanned mission to the planet.
