After its successful launch of the Hope Probe to Mars, the UAE has set its sights on the moon now. On September 29, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the launch of the first Emirati and Arab mission to explore the moon. The mission supports the UAE’s efforts to enhance the region’s space industry and contribute to its future built by innovative Emirati minds, WAM reported.

The Emirates Lunar Mission is part of the 2021-31 strategy launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), which includes the development and launch of the first Emirati lunar rover named “Rashid”, after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, builder of modern Dubai and father of the present ruler.

The explorer will be designed and built in the UAE by an Emirati team of engineers, experts, and researchers. So far, only the United States, Soviet Union, and China have sent successful moon missions. An international entity will assist MBRSC in landing the Rashid Lunar Rover on the Moon.

The mission aims to conduct tests to study various aspects of the lunar surface, including the lunar soil and its formation and components. During its mission period, the Lunar Rover will capture multiple images and relay it back to the control room in Dubai. The Emirates Lunar Mission will also test new technologies in material science, robotics, mobility, navigation, and communications, specially designed to survive and function in the harsh lunar environment.

The Emirati rover will land on an area of the Moon’s surface that has not been explored by any of the previous lunar exploration missions. Therefore, it will provide novel and highly valued data, images, and insights. During its mission, the lunar rover will collect scientific data on matters relating the origin of the solar system, our planet and life.

The Lunar Rover will test new exploration techniques on the Moon, which will help test the UAE’s capabilities before embarking on manned missions to Mars.

The Rover will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies including a 3D camera, advanced motion system, sensors, communication system and be powered using solar panels.

It will have an advanced motion system to enhance the efficiency of the Lunar Rover’s wheel movement on the Moon and overcome natural barriers, along with a robust structure to protect devices and machinery from changing temperatures.

The team at MBRSC is working towards completing the design of the Lunar Rover by 2021. The rover is set to be manufactured in 2022, while preliminary experiments and tests of the prototype are expected to start in 2023. The Centre aims to launch the Lunar Rover by 2024, setting another record in its growing list of achievements in the space sector.

The Lunar Rover is expected to face many challenges on the surface of the Moon, as it has a harsher environment than Mars, and the temperature can reach minus 173 degrees Celsius. With a success rate of only 45 percent, landing on the Moon is considered one of the most challenging space missions due to the precision required for a successful landing.

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The UAE’s achievements in the space sector will receive another boost as it launches the MeznSat satellite on a Russian Soyuz rocket soon, WAM reported.

MeznSat is among the satellites owned and operated by the UAE. According to the UAE Space Agency, MeznSat is being developed by young Emirati citizens from Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi and the American University in Ras Al Khaimah, who will also monitor and analyse data sent to the mainland station at the YahSat lab in Khalifa University and the sub-land station at American University.

During the project’s announcement, Dr. Eng. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director-General of the Agency, stressed that MeznSat will play a key role in analysing the atmosphere and providing information and photos that will help understand many issues facing our planet.

Satellites so far

The nation has been successfully making efforts to develop satellites for the past one decade, with the participation of many talented young UAE nationals, and in partnership with local and international entities.

The UAE owns many high-capacity satellites. The first was ‘DubaiSat-1’ launched in 2008 by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre to monitor climate change.

In 2013, DubaiSat-2 was launched for observation and monitoring purposes. Emirati engineers from the MBRSC contributed to its development.

Yah-1 satellite, launched by the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company in 2011, had objectives such as broadcasting TV programmes and providing other commercial services for 62 million viewers.

In 2012, Yah-2 was launched to provide YahClick satellite internet services to various corporations and individuals in the Middle East, African, and Central and Southwest Asia.

In 2018 came Yah-3 to offer equivalent services in South America and West Africa.

Nayif-1 was the first nano-metric satellite and the first ‘CubeSat’ Emirati educational satellite, which was launched in 2017 from India for educational purposes. It was developed by a group of students from the American University of Sharjah and the MBRSC.

‘KhalifaSat’, launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan in October 2018, was the first satellite to be completely developed and manufactured in the UAE.

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