Amna Al Ketbi (Dubai)
The countdown to the start of the UAE’s mission to explore the moon has begun, with only 3 months left for the explorer “Rashid” to launch aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The launch window begins in early November, and extends for three months, to reach, following 3 months, the landing site on the moon, specifically the Atlas Crater area in the Marie Frigors region, which is the first of its kind in areas being explored for the first time.
According to the schedule of the mission, which takes one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days, the explorer will roam the surface of the moon, traveling in new locations that have not been studied before, to study plasma on the surface of the moon, where he will capture rare data and images, amounting to regarding 10 GIGABYTE, and then sent to the ground control station at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, in addition to testing technical devices and equipment that are being tried for the first time, related to robotics, communications, mobility and navigation, with the aim of determining the efficiency of their work in the harsh environment of the moon.
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Explorer Rashid Team (from the source)
The explorer Rashid will use a secondary system to communicate directly with the Earth in 3 cases, during his mission on the surface of the moon. The Earth is an energy-efficient scientific experiment.
During his mission on the lunar surface, the explorer Rashid will use a main communications system that relies on the I-Space lander, to make communications from the moon to the Earth, and a secondary one that makes direct communications and requires the presence of the Earth within the field of view.
The launch company of the explorer Rashid “SpaceX Falcon 9” intends to complete the tests of the landing flight model next September, and once completed, the launch vehicle will be shipped from Germany to the United States, where the company will transport the Emirati Rashid lunar module and many government and private payloads.
Final exams
Explorer Rashid underwent final tests in France, where the 10kg craft spent a few weeks in Toulouse testing vibration and thermal vacuum, a series of final checks to ensure it can withstand the harsh environment during a rocket launch and spaceflight. Germany, so that it can be combined with the Japanese Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by ispace inc, which will deliver the craft to the lunar surface.
The surface of the moon
The explorer will study various aspects of the lunar surface, including its soil, composition and components, as well as the thermal properties of the lunar surface such as the temperature range and conduction properties, and will conduct a series of measurements and tests that will enrich human understanding of the photoelectrons and dust particles located above the illuminated part of the lunar surface. A group of materials and the study of their interaction with the moon. The “Rashid” explorer is equipped with 3D cameras, a suspension system, advanced sensor and communication systems, an external structure and solar panels to supply it with energy. Soil, dust, radioactive and electrical activities, and rocks on the Moon’s surface.
