The United Arab Emirates will be using an advanced artificial intelligence flight computer in its lunar rover to explore the surface of the Moon.
This navigation computer, which is presently being developed by Canadian space firm Mission Control Space Services, will recognise geological features as the Emirati rover, Rashid, drives around the unstable terrain of the lunar surface.
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The computer will be installed on a Japanese lander that will take Rashid to the Moon next year, from where it will receive data from the rover. It will also send information back to Earth to be studied by scientists at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
“With the support of the Canadian Space Agency, Canadian scientists and engineers will be able to participate in near-term missions to the lunar surface,” said Ewan Reid, president and chief executive of Mission Control.
Meanwhile, the UAE lunar rover Rashid is expected to explore the near side of the Moon, which offers a smoother surface with fewer craters but unpredictable terrain.
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While the four-wheeled rover can climb over an obstacle at a maximum height of 10 centimetres and descend a 20-degree slope, some basins on the near side of the moon are so steep that it would be impossible for the rover to climb out – if it were it to fall into one.
The team at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre has shortlisted unexplored landing locations on the moon, but the final decision will be based on an area that offers the most scientific value and security for the Arab world’s first lunar rover. (AW)
