One of the biggest moments in the UAE’s history is about to occur: The emirates will land a rover on the moon.
Yess, the world is eagerly anticipating the lunar landing of the Hakuto-R Mission 1, a Japanese spacecraft transporting the Emirati-designed Rashid Rover, after launching in December from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The primary attempt is slated for Tuesday, April 25, at 8.40 pm UAE time, with contingency dates of April 26, May 1, and May 3.
Operating a spacecraft on the surface of another celestial body would make the UAE the first Arab nation and one of the first countries worldwide to achieve this feat, which is pretty cool. Rashid Rover’s mission is to conduct a 10-14 day exploration of the Moon’s surface, gathering information about the lunar soil’s characteristics, petrography and geology, dust movement, and surface plasma conditions, as well as the photoelectron sheath.
Next, it will face the challenge of surviving the frigid -183°C temperature during the 14-day lunar night. Pretty tough weather conditions… But if all goes well, the robot will continue its operations for another lunar day and eventually reach the decommissioning phase.
At the moment, only three countries in the world have managed to land their robots on the Moon softly. The first one was the former Soviet Union with Semyorka missile, then America’s Ranger 7 (that’s after 13 consecutive failures) and China’s Yutu 3. As challenging as it is, the UAE’s mission has solid chances of success too.
Salem Al Marri, the Director General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, feels optimistic about the landing upon observing the Hakuto-R and Rashid Rover, The National reported.
“There’s another critical moment, which is the deployment of Rashid rover on the surface of
the Moon, after checking out all the systems, turning it on, and starting our operations, which
will be in the next couple of days after the landing. Those critical moments are a little bit
nerve-racking, but we have full confidence in the team,” he said.
And we are looking forward to seeing this historical moment, too.