Rashid rover gets ready to land on the moon

The Rashid rover, built by experts at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, is preparing to land on the surface of the Earth’s satellite on April 25, 2023. Currently, the Japanese Hakuto-R lander with the Emirati moonwalker on board is orbiting the moon at an altitude of around 100km.

If the mission is successful, the United Arab Emirates will become the fourth country (after the USA, Russia and China) to successfully land the rover on the lunar surface.

The Rashid rover will land near Dream Lake on the visible side of the Moon. It is a four-wheeled planet rover weighing 10 kg and will be solar-powered. The moon rover’s scientific equipment will include cameras, a thermal imager, a microscope and a Langmuir probe.

“The Rashid is to collect lunar dust and soil. Mobility on the lunar surface will be explored. The research module is capable not only of transmitting images to Earth but also of analysing the material obtained in situ.

New technologies in materials science, robotics, mobility, navigation and communications designed specifically to survive and function in the harsh lunar environment will be tested while on the surface of the Moon. The aim is to prepare for future missions to Mars.

As previously reported, Sultan Al Neyadi, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates currently on the ISS, will be the first Arab to make a spacewalk. The event is scheduled for April 28.

The 41-year-old Emirati is expected to spend more than six hours outside the International Space Station, making his name part of the history books. Together with NASA colleague Stephen Bowen, they will be replacing communication equipment installed outside the orbiting science lab.

The work will take place in microgravity, more than 400km above the Earth: the ISS moves at about 8km per second, taking just 90 minutes to complete a complete rotation around the planet. The Emirati’s spacewalk will be streamed online.

Source: Gulf Business

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