Emirates Lunar Mission

The Emirates Lunar Mission (Arabic: مشروع الإمارات لاستكشاف القمر) is the first mission to the Moon from the United Arab Emirates.[2]

Emirates Lunar Mission
Artists' impression of the Rashid rover
OperatorMohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftRashid
Dry mass10 kg (22 lb)
Dimensions53.5 cm (21.1 in) × 53.85 cm (21.20 in)
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 2022 (planned)[1]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteCape Canaveral
ContractorSpaceX
 

The mission by MBRSC plans to send a lunar rover named Rashid to the Moon in October 2022 aboard ispace's Hakuto-R lander.[1][3] The rover will land in Lacus Somniorum, the "Lake of Dreams", close to the lunar equator.[4]

Rashid will be equipped with two high-resolution cameras, a microscopic camera to capture small details, and a thermal imaging camera. The rover will also carry a Langmuir probe, designed to study the Moon's plasma and will attempt to explain why Moon dust is so sticky.[5] The rover will study the lunar surface, mobility on the Moon’s surface and how different surfaces interact with lunar particles.[6] If successful, Rashid will be the smallest rover to land on the Moon, weighing approximately 10 kg with its payload.[7]

Overview

The mission's initial timeline was to send the rover by 2024. On 14 April 2021, MBRSC announced that the schedule had been moved up to send the rover to the Moon by 2022, rather than 2024.[6] The rover is named Rashid in honor of Dubai's late ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who was responsible for the transformation of Dubai from a small cluster of settlements near the Dubai Creek to a modern port city and commercial hub. The rover will be built in Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai by Emiratis, making it the first Arab country to send a mission to the Moon.[7]

HAKUTO-R lander

As the United Arab Emirates does not plan to build its own lander, it has partnered with the Japanese company ispace. The Emirates Lunar Mission will be the first Moon trip for HAKUTO-R, which ispace has been developing for more than a decade. The company, which was established in 2010, managed Team HAKUTO, one of the five finalists in the Google Lunar X Prize. The private race to the Moon ended in 2018 without a winner.[8]

References
  1. Foust, Jeff (28 October 2021). "U.A.E. examining options for future human spaceflight missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. Abueish, Tamara (29 September 2020). "UAE to launch new Emirati space mission to explore moon: Dubai ruler". Al Arabiya English. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. "MBRSC Teams Up with Japan's ispace on Emirates Lunar Mission". ispace. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. Abueish, Tamara (5 September 2021). "UAE to launch Rashid Rover to 'Lake of Dreams' in Arab world's first moon mission". Al Arabiya English. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  5. "UAE hopes this tiny lunar rover will discover unexplored parts of the moon". CNN. 24 November 2020.
  6. "UAE sets new ambitious timeline for launch of moon rover". ABC News. 14 April 2021.
  7. "UAE to send Emirati-made lunar rover 'Rashid' to the moon next year". Gulf News. 14 April 2021.
  8. "Japanese ispace lander to carry UAE moon rover to lunar surface in 2022". Space.com. 14 April 2021.
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