Rashid rover sets off on its first space voyage

The Rashid rover made in the United Arab Emirates has set off on its first space voyage. The launch took place from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Hakuto-R, built by the private company ispace, was launched into space by a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by SpaceX Corporation. The Rashid moon rover weighs just 10kg and is equipped with two cameras, a microscope and a thermal imager.

The four-wheeled planet rover will be solar-powered. It is planned to reach the surface of the Moon in 5 months and land in April.

The chosen landing site is the Dream Lake area on the north-eastern side of the visible Moon. Within 10 days of landing, it will transmit photographs of the lunar surface and conduct other research to Earth.

If the mission is successful, the UAE will become the fourth (after the US, Russia and China) country to successfully land the rover on the lunar surface. As previously reported, 2023 promises to be the busiest year in the history of space exploration for the United Arab Emirates.

Next spring, 41-year-old Sultan Al Nayyadi will travel to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket – he will orbit the Earth for six months. The UAE will become the 11th country in history to send its citizen on such a long-term space journey.

At the end of 2023, the UAE hopes to launch MBZ-Sat, the region’s most powerful aerospace imaging satellite. The 800-kilogram satellite, named after the country’s president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, will go into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

Source: The National

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