The first Emirati mission to the moon will launch on Wednesday, November 30, said the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.
The Rashid Rover will begin its trip to the moon on November 30, at precisely 12.39 UAE time, weather permitting.
First UAE moon mission
In a statement on Twitter, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre said: “The new launch date of the first Emirati mission to the surface of the Moon is set on 30 November at 12:39 pm (UAE time) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States.
“This date is subject to change depending on the weather status or other conditions.
UAE’s Rashid Rover will be delivered by Japanese lunar exploration company ispace via its Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. The company is also the first to carry our a commercial cargo mission to the Moon.
The Rashid Rover, which weighs 10 kilograms, will fly to the Moon on Mission 1 and will attempt to land on the Moon’s Atlas Crater on the south-eastern outer edge of the Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold. The lander is expected to reach the Moon in late April.
The four-wheel rover, which was built by a small team of Emiratis at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, will spend a lunar day – equivalent of 14 Earth days – on the Moon’s surface to study its geology and lunar dust. The rover is built to take a carousel of images of the Moon’s surroundings via high-resolution cameras.
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