The UAE’s historic expedition to the Moon has fully completed its launch preparations. The HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander has been integrated with the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, according to Japan-based ispace inc (ispace), which will place the Rashid Rover on the Moon.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has previously stated that the mission will launch on November 30 at 12:39pm UAE time.
The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Watch the live coverage of the launch of Rashid Rover, the first Emirati Mission to the surface of the Moon, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States, on Wednesday 30 November at 12:39 PM (UAE time): https://t.co/LbRXOJXcbv#EmiratesLunarMission #UAEtotheMoon pic.twitter.com/o4HduIH5XD
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) November 28, 2022
UAE’s Rashid Rover will pursue a low-energy route to the Moon rather than a straight approach once launched – which means that it will take around five months or by April 2023 for the spacecraft to land on the Moon.
If the mission is successful, the UAE will become the fourth country to land on the Moon.
The Rashid Rover’s primary landing location is the Atlas Crater on the southern side of Mare Frigoris. A’mare’ is a flat, black plain on the surface of the Moon. The location lies on the extreme north side of the Moon and has never been investigated before.
The 10kg Rashid Rover will study the Moon’s plasma and provide answers to long-standing questions about lunar dust, mobility on the lunar surface, and how different surfaces interact with particles. It is named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai. It will use two high-resolution cameras, one microscopic and one thermal imaging, to relay data and photos back to Earth.
