The Rashid rover from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be delivered to the surface of the Moon in 2022 by HAKUTO-R, a lander built in Japan by the company ispace . This will be a first for both countries.
To date, only three countries have soft-landed a spacecraft on the Moon:the United States, the Soviet Union and China. Since then, others have tried, but they have had problems, like India or Israel. Next year, two more countries will try their luck:the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
The UAE initially announced its lunar exploration project for 2024. Finally, this mission is advanced by two years . The objective will be to send a rover named Rashid to an equatorial zone (the final site has not yet been announced).
On site, the little four-wheeled ten-kilogram robot will study its surroundings for at least one lunar day, or about fourteen Earth days, using a high camera resolution, a thermal camera, a microscopic imager and a Langmuir probe. This latest instrument could help scientists better understand the electrically charged environment on the lunar surface.
According to mission team members, the lunar robot Rashid will be delivered to the lunar surface by HAKUTO-R, a lander built by the Japanese company ispace.
“The whole world will watch our commercial lander carry the Rashid rover to the Moon “said ispace Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada. “We are pleased and honored to advance UAE-Japan collaboration in space exploration, as well as to inspire more lunar exploration collaborations between the public and commercial sector across the world “.
According to ispace representatives, the launch of this mission should be done aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Founded in 2010, the Japanese company also plans a second lunar mission in 2023 with the deployment of another rover. Subsequently, ispace aims to increase the frequency of its lunar landings in order to transport payloads on behalf of customers.
“Our landers will deploy swarms of rovers to the lunar surface to become pioneers in the discovery and development of lunar resources, enabling the steady development of industry moon and human presence on the moon “, can we read in a press release.
The United Arab Emirates recently distinguished itself by sending the country's first robotic probe into orbit around Mars. The craft, dubbed 'Hope', recently broadcast some magnificent views of the Red Planet.
